The Hokage's Will
by Airheaded dude
Summary: The aftermath of Pain’s attack left Tsunade in comatose, Danzo's plot of becoming Hokage is thwarted by Naruto himself. With the doubts that the Lord of Fire has placed on Danzo, Naruto is suddenly left inheriting the mantle of Hokage before the Summit.
1. The Selection

The Hokage's Will

Summary: The aftermath of Pain's attack left Tsunade in comatose, with a sudden surprise from the Lord of Fire, Naruto is left inheriting the Mantle.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, all copyrights belong to Masashi Kishimoto, Suiesha and VIZ media. This is strictly for fan purposes only.

Chapter one: The Selection

"As it was foretold…"

The elder sage of Myobokuzan said in his shaking voice, holding within his hand, the crystal ball to see the events that had occurred. Gamabunta sat in front of the elder sage and watched the events unfold. His injuries aching his gigantic body, forced him to be summoned out of Konoha. The battle with Pain was made into a full battle of attrition against Naruto, who in the end, succeeded by finishing the fight with God Realm with a slew of back up plans.

"Though it is unthinkable that Jiraiya's two apprentices were the chosen of this prophecy… The change and revolution of the ninja world."

The crystal ball, willed by the elder sage, zoomed in on Naruto's hand that held the first book that Jiraiya ever made. The elder sage then said, "That book really is the key to change for a prosperous future."

Gamabunta wordlessly looked on to the crystal ball, as he viewed the features of young Naruto; the image of the Fourth Hokage took over his vision.

With a wipe from one of his forearms, Gamabunta then said,

"The kid is making me remind of the Fourth. It's through this brat that everything will change. I'm honoured to have been of service to this brat."

The elder sage commented, "Maybe this was all meant to be, from the time Jiraiya decided to never give up."

The sounds of rushing water were the only things that could be heard in the great structure of Myobokuzan that day…

Konoha:

"Gedo Rinne Tensei no Jutsu! (Outer Path: Samsara of Heavenly Life Technique)" Nagato shouted, his chakra pouring out of his body. His remaining life force, going to the jutsu he had created. He said to Naruto,

"I believe in you… In you, I can see a bright future, thank you Naruto; you made me remind myself of my youth… My idealism… I'll put my faith in you as Yahiko and sensei did to me… With this, the deed is done…"

In the midst of Pain's parting speech, a giant creature, with its concentric eyes of the Rinnegan, sprouted forth from the ground zero of Pain's Shinra Tensei (Divine Subjugation of the Omnipresent God), with its mark of King on its forehead, it undid the strings that covered of its gaping mouth, releasing countless souls of the people venturing in the twilight of life and death.

In the false tree, Nagato said as his shivering hands reached out to the blonde, "Just one more time… Let me put my faith… Back to true peace… One more time… Let me dream that beautiful dream…"

Nagato slowly began to lose his consciousness; Naruto caught him by the arms, a sullen expression written all over his face.

"Nagato..."

Konan remained silent as she closed her eyes, as Nagato had started breathing his last.

"What did Nagato do?" Naruto asked, as Nagato was starting his heavy breathing.

"Nagato… As the Seventh Pain, he is able to control life and death. For he who controls the Rinnegan is above the cycle of life and death."

Nagato looked upwards, the false tree starting to disperse,

"At least… Let me do this, for the people that I have killed in this village, this is my payment to you… Thank you… Uzumaki Naruto… I can rest easy… My dream, Yahiko's dream… We will give to you… My role… Is over now…"

With that, Nagato silently paused, slowly succumbing to the merciful embrace of death. No longer shall he suffer the pains of his past, haunting him in his very soul, freed from his drive and obsession.

"I promise you, Nagato, I'll be the one to break this curse, believe in me." Naruto uttered, closing his eyes, a lone tear flows from his left eye, signalling his sorrow. If only it weren't for Danzo and Madara, all this pain and madness wouldn't have happened. It was in this moment, he had understood what Jiraiya finally wanted for him to have.

'_If I can't be the one to be that person to bring peace to the world, if I can't find that answer, Naruto… You'll be the one to do it for me!'_

'_You bet!'_

Naruto stood up, holding in his hand in a firm grip, the first book that Jiraiya had written.

Konan wrapped Nagato's body with her paper; she looked on as Naruto followed her. Looking to the place where Naruto had defeated Tendou (Heaven Path/God Realm) Pain. She arrived, silent as the angel of god that she was portrayed to be, gentle and comforting, with a flick of her hand, countless papers wrapped around the form of the body of God Realm. Naruto asked,

"You're taking this body too?"

Konan replied, "This is the body used to be God Realm, this was Yahiko, he was someone very dear to us."

She looked back as the countless papers surrounded the Yahiko's corpse.

"War brings death, wounds and pain to both sides… There is nothing harder to accept than the death of those that you love… Your generation that hasn't known war; try to find meaning in death only to be left with pain… And hatred that you don't know what to do with."

"Dying like trash, never ending hatred… That is war. This is what you must face Naruto… The book that Nagato so held dearly, and you… It was as if it was the workings of the true God…"

Naruto not once looked over to the woman as he looked down, "Are you… Going back to Akatsuki?"

"I am done with Akatsuki, Yahiko and Nagato were everything to me… They've entrusted their dreams to you, Nagato believed in you, so I'll do the same. Amegakure will help you any way it can."

Naruto wordlessly looked at the corpses of his fellow pupils and touched them,

"I'll be the person, to end all of this tragedy… It's what my Master and fellow pupils had given me. You've taught me, to be a stronger person… I promise; I'll do everything I can."

Konan raised her right arm and papers began swirling around her hand, folding and forming a bouquet of paper roses. The blue haired girl handed it over to Naruto and said,

"This time… I hope for you that these flowers of hope never die."

Naruto merely smiled and accepted the gift, as he reached out for it with both his hands and held it tight.

A memory of his former master crossed his mind,

* * *

'_Oh? That's pretty good eh, Naruto? How about we go out tonight and celebrate with Ice Cream?'_

'_Alright! Thanks ero-sennin!'_

'_Hey, Naruto! I got the best view on the house here! Want to take a look?'_

'_Eh? You serious? What if we get caught!?'_

'_Ah, you worry over the little stuff like that and you'll grow up to be such a prude like Tsunade!'_

'_No way!'_

'_Ero-sennin! I got a new idea for a jutsu! Want to see?'_

'_Oh, really? Well let's see it then!'_

'_That was great Naruto! You really are my most favourite apprentice! Hahahaha! Now I've got an idea for my next book! How about you write a chapter here for me?'_

'_Sure!'_

* * *

'_Hey, Ero-sennin, did you know you're like the grandfather I never had?'_

'_What's with this all of a sudden? And no matter how you say it, I'll always be proud of my apprentice!'_

'_Thanks ero-sennin!'_

* * *

Memories of his master crossed his mind, as he slowly formed a smile and tears fell like rivers cascading down his whiskered cheeks. He turned his back from the view that he last saw Konan, and walked back to the village that was laid in ruins.

Within his hands, he held the paper roses that Konan had given him, and the memento of his master.

"Just watch me, you perverted hermit. I'll make your dreams a reality!"

He jumped up… His optimism showed forth like the radiant sun.

Kakashi:

In the period of talking with his father in limbo, Kakashi realized that he felt his chest a little lighter, his back broader, as if a weight on his shoulder was lifted. His father had talked to him so casually and so normally in front of the only light within that darkness, that small campfire that his father had waited on for years since his death.

Thanks to their talk, Sakumo was able to go meet his wife finally, the shame that Kakashi had shown in years of his childhood was no longer there, only acceptance.

With renewed strength, Kakashi went searching for his student that defeated Pain, going through the forest, he saw Naruto, tired and fatigued that he was, an image that wasn't always present, within his hands were a bouquet of paper roses and a small book, Naruto staggered, feeling the weight of his exhaustion taking over.

He fell down.

But was caught by Kakashi who only said, "Good work."

Surprised, Naruto shouted to the teacher,

"Kakashi-sensei!"

"Save your breath and hold on. We're going back to the village."

As soon as the village came into view, literally thousands upon thousands of the villagers and ninja were all there to meet him,

"Welcome back!"

"We believed in you!"

"Thank you!"

Words of gratitude and awe were shouted from the joyous villagers and children began rushing towards him, pushing and shoving to get close to the person that had saved them and caused a miracle within the village.

"They've all been waiting for your return." Kakashi mentioned and the small slug that had been with Naruto, a part of Katsuya, said,

"I told them everything that had happened; they've been waiting for you all this time."

A shard of memory had hit Kakashi's mind,

'_My dream, is to one day become Hokage, and for everyone to acknowledge my existence!'_

In the background, Iruka recalled the moment when Naruto was when he was a child, and to the moment that he had been embraced by the village, a smile had escaped his lips that turned into a full blown grin, tears of joy overwhelming the teacher.

As everyone cheered certain people seemed to have been approached by the ANBU, this went unnoticed to several of the crowd,

Nara Shikaku, who was one of the people that were approached, asked the masked ninja, "What is it?"

"You are to report to the council room immediately."

Shikaku frowned and lowered his head and asked, "Already?"

Kakashi looked on in aloofness, Naruto whispered to him.

"Take me to the council room immediately sensei. It's time I put a stop to Danzo's underground operations."

Kakashi looked incredulous; did Naruto obtain very sensitive information about Root? And why was he requesting one of the elder toads to accompany him and carry one of their scroll lists for active toads.

"This wouldn't have happened if I was called back sooner, and the timing of the whole thing… It doesn't add up sensei… I know I may not notice the simple things back then, but thanks with to my training in Senjutsu (Sage Arts)… I've been more particular. Please sensei… Just this once."

Kakashi nodded, Naruto was determined and that looked like something that will remain there until he got what he want.

Far in the village outskirts, an oversized looking Venus flytrap emerged from the thick branch of one of the gigantic trees surrounding the village.

"I never thought Pain could be defeated like this, I must report this immediately" Zetsu said, as he observed the blonde jinchuuriki being escorted away with the infamous Copy Ninja Kakashi.

"Madara must take note of this."

With that, he sunk into the trunk again, his Kagero (Mayfly) taking effect, travelling at the speed of sound.

The Council Room:

The council room looked tense everyone was facing a hard time ahead, Pain's assault on Konoha did more damage than it should have.

"We plan on continuing with other countries to counter the threat posed by Akatsuki." Homura mentioned, making clear his intentions on the matter at hand. Being the remaining village with a jinchuuriki, it was more likely that they will target Konoha again.

The one from the financing department in the land of fire said, "After what's happened to the village, the land of fire will do anything it can into getting Konoha rebuilt, but first we need to set up a considerable amount of budget and then take into account the strain on the other countries as well."

Danzo in particular, raised his head and showed his uncovered eye, gleaming in the sunlight,

"There are other important issues to be discussed, such as who will be the next Hokage?"

All of the people in the room remained silent, the Fire Lord said, "Couldn't we just wait for Tsunade to awaken? I am sure the matter will fix itself eventually."

Koharu had voiced her opinion, "My lord, Tsunade is still in a coma, we can't decide on a plan for the village when she will wake up. Besides, the destruction of Konoha was partially her fault."

The Fire Lord sighed as he leaned back into his seat, fanning himself, "I'd choose Jiraiya, I liked him, but he's gone now…"

Seeing Danzo was about to speak, Shikaku intervened, clearly seeing the schemes of the old war hawk.

"I nominate Hatake Kakashi."

The Fire Lord seemed impressed,

"Oho, the son of the 'White Fang,' eh? Why not? What do all of you think?"

Murmurs and whispers went around the council chambers talking about the situation.

"He's well known, strong and respected that's true but he's very young."

"Minato was even younger."

A councilman asked Shikaku, "Who was his teacher?"

Shikaku replied in a calm demeanour, everything was swaying in his favour,

"The Yondaime Hokage."

The Fire Daimyo seemed impressed again, "Ah, Kakashi who was taught by the Fourth Hokage, taught by Jiraiya and taught by the Sandaime… It is a fine selection!"

The old noble added with a smile.

"The Third Hokage's teachings have as good as destroyed the village! The leader of Akatsuki, Pain, was once Jiraiya's pupil!"

Everyone turned to Danzo who seemed to have opposed the idea, but before he could make headway, it was then that he was cut off.

"The Sandaime was never wrong in his teachings."

It was then that Naruto appeared from the entrance of the door and within his hands, was a scroll along with the Fukasaku resting on his shoulders. He looked at Danzo in contempt and said,

"You were responsible for this Danzo, and I would be damned if you were to become Hokage. You were the one that let Pain roam free in Konoha; you and Hanzo were the ones that created him! You are in part to blame on Nagato turning what he was."

Everyone seemed quiet at that, Homura and Koharu stood up and elder woman said,

"Uzumaki Naruto, you are not permitted to enter the council room, this can be considered an act of insubordination."

Naruto stood firm, outside, Kakashi leaned on the door, so that no one would enter. To his right was Yamato nervously waiting for one of his charges inside, it was like dipping your toe on boiling water, such a risky move would get them severely punished if Danzo ever did turn into Hokage.

"Have faith in your subordinate, Yamato. I did and I know what he's doing is the right thing."

If only those simple words would be enough to encourage him.

Inside, Naruto spoke,

"Where did you get information about Pain being my sensei's pupil? As far as I can tell, only the Sannin knew of it. You've dug your own grave Danzo. You've involuntarily suggested about your involvement with Amegakure's affairs, more specifically, with Hanzo of the Salamander. It was because of you that Nagato became the leader of Akatsuki by killing his friend, Yahiko. You thought that their movement in Amegakure was a threat on its own without even considering that we should not interfere in political affairs that do not concern us."

Shikaku seemed to grin as he held his head down, Naruto had a point. It seemed now was time to back up the child,

"That's true, what happened in Kiri is an example, we do not intervene in actions that concern internal affairs of a country that is outside our Jurisdiction, which is almost every country not the Land of Fire. Do you have any explanation on this, Danzo?" Shikaku asked.

"Proof…" Danzo mentioned and then continued,

"Where's your proof, child?"

Naruto looked at the man in a heartbeat and said, "The citizens of Konoha that were revived just earlier."

"During my fight with him, he told me that his organization back then only wanted to have peace talks with Hanzo. But you coaxed him Danzo, coaxed Hanzo of the Salamander to suppress the movement. Because of this, Nagato who was stricken with grief was tricked into making Akatsuki, a terrorist organization that went and gathered all the Jinchuuriki and Bijuu that roamed."

"How are the citizens concerned with this?" Homura asked,

"Nagato, who held the Rinnegan, had an ability to revive the people that have died in a short amount of time, I convinced him to stop his actions and understand that Jiraiya's teachings weren't just idealistic. It was then he gave me the reason to why he would go so much as far as destroy Konoha. All because Danzo aided Hanzo in putting down Yahiko and Nagato's faction."

The Fire Lord raised an eyebrow at this and said, "Well now, those are pretty strong allegations, it seems we can't turn Danzo into Hokage for it will cause such a public outrage if word of your involvement gets out."

To this Danzo sat back into his seat. Shikaku smiled, as he leaned back and let the progress of a new Hokage take place.

"You were also responsible in delaying my return Danzo-teme." Naruto mentioned, his frown forming deeper.

"With my delay, Pain was free to do as he pleased, he terrorized and killed many of our troops those that didn't know my whereabouts back then were incapacitated or even killed. Did you know how many lives could have ended then? I know you've been hungering for power for years; Tsunade explained to me your reasons why you still run Root. And how she fervently opposed any idea and suggestion you had given. This proof shall be all that's needed."

He raised the crystal ball to Fukasaku's hands and the small toad held it firmly with his tiny hands.

"Little Jiraiya explained to me once that the Hokage's office is filled with seals that the Hokage installed without anyone's knowledge other than his own and with little Jiraiya's. He said to me that the seals were there to record in the crystal ball the events that occur whenever the Hokage was not around, the trigger of that seal, would be the seal etched on to every Hokage that set foot in that office, through their clothing or otherwise."

It was then that Naruto unfurled the gigantic scroll and in it, was the list of the active toads that reside in Myobokuzan.

"When we left the village to train Naruto, we left here with a summoner toad to send Naruto back to the village if ever he was needed. If one of ours were killed, their names would be erased from the active scroll. This is what happened in the events that Pain started his invasion of Konoha."

They saw a picture of Danzo; his back turned from the viewers and saw that the man stabbed the summoning toad with a tanto.

Homura and Koharu looked at each other and then to the Fire Lord who frowned,

"Quite. It seemed that the reason why Naruto was sent back later than expected was indeed Danzo. Even if Naruto weren't to return, Pain would have attacked nonetheless, I think I may have an idea of who is to become the next Hokage."

In that very moment, the wheels of fate began turning again its gears shifting to start an event that will be remembered for all of the people of Konoha.

Unknown Location:

* * *

"So Pain was defeated, huh?" Madara asked, Zetsu answered with a nod.

"And of the Hokage?"

Zetsu answered, "They're still determining who it's going to be. Though it would most likely be Danzo based on speculation."

Madara's eye gleamed at that; it seemed like the perfect opportunity to start his plan,

"Konan is not coming back; we need another pawn to sync with Gedo Mazo (Demonic Statue of the Outer Realm)."

Tobi remained silent for a moment contemplating his next move, he then looked at Kisame and said

"Kisame, you go after the eight tailed beast. I've got matters to attend to, Zetsu, make sure to monitor the events in Konoha, confirm that Danzo is indeed the Hokage. Come with me when you're done."

When Tobi had received word that the Five Kage Summit would take place in Kurogane no Kuni, he began to worry about the measures that the Five Major Countries that would impose sanctions and interventions against Akatsuki. Their movement would be smaller than what it was before, not that it would be a problem for him, all he needed were the remaining two bijuu that still roamed the earth, but with Naruto defeating his greatest piece on the board, Madara was adamant about letting one of his members get him now, and with Konoha very aware and assigned task forces against the organization, Madara would eventually be forced to start from scratch.

The sounds of footsteps could only be heard as Kisame exited the small cave that housed the Gedo Mazo.

"What will it be now, Tobi?" Asked Zetsu, Madara merely said,

"Leave everything to me." Said the man as a spiral contortion happened in front of him, the space seemed to bend and fold, as Madara was sent in a spiral motion in a single point, like rushing water down the drain.

The world will turn at this very single point. For it will embark on something much, much more grand.

* * *

Konoha:

"What?" Naruto asked flabbergasted as the Fire Lord, patted on his shoulder and said,

"As the student of both Jiraiya and Kakashi, and the one responsible in defeating the leader of Akatsuki, I appoint you Uzumaki Naruto, as the Rokudaime Hokage."

Naruto seemed in shock at this, "Why me?"

"You have proven that you are strong and the villagers love you, you have the charisma and strength, you're perfect for the job." Said the Fire Lord, everyone around, except for Shikaku seemed unsure of this.

"My Lord, you are giving a job of great importance to a child? But this is unheard off!" Asked Koharu

"Wind Country has done the same, has it not? There were also rumours that this boy is responsible for the countless allegiances we have been receiving as of late, not to mention he is the child of Namikaze Minato. It would be great for Uzumaki-san to rise in this world as a political figure head. He's already on a level that rivals Jiraiya; an S-class warrior of one so young is hard to come by." The Fire Lord countered in a sagely manner, most of the members seemed to nod at this.

"B-But I'm still a genin…"

"And the appointment of Kage needs not to be ranked. Chuunin can become Hokage, why can't Genin for that matter? It is all about discernment, child." With that, the Fire Lord stood up, Naruto remained silent.

"Will you accept, Uzumaki Naruto? Or should we call you, Hokage-sama?" Asked the Fire Lord, Naruto still stood, and contemplated the situation.

The moment he would extend his arm, he will become Hokage, the strongest of Konohagakure, the ideal figure of a shinobi.

But if this is what needed to protect the people, then so be it.

The Fire Lord smiled and Naruto remained silent,

"I just want one thing… In five days, announce my succession in five days, I still have unfinished business to take care of. Fukasaku-sensei, I wish to learn about Fuinjutsu, can I master it in a span of Five days?"

Fukasaku closed his eyes and gave his answer, "That depends on you, Naruto-chan… But I'm sure with the method of using Kakashi's training you would be done by then."

"Good, then I'll see all of you in Five Days." Naruto was about to exit, but he was stopped by Koharu and Homura,

"Hokage-sama, with the time needed for reconstruction and repairs, we need your authorization to allow a construction company and the emergency provisions…"

"There's a friend of mine from Wave that happens to own a construction company, send for them, emergency provisions should be easy enough to obtain from Spring Country, just mention to them my name and they will comply." Naruto answered as he went out, the Fire Lord smiled further,

"A great Hokage indeed."

Outside, Kakashi stepped back and kneeled in front of Naruto, the blonde had a sweat drop at the back of his head and sighed,

"Hokage-sama." Both Kakashi and Yamato replied, Naruto seemed uncomfortable with the title yet.

"Kakashi-sensei, I'll be going out for five days as you have probably heard, I want you to oversee the construction and repairs with Yamato-taichou. I won't be here; I'll be going back to training with Fukasaku-sensei in Myobokuzan. Also, I trust the two of you, Danzo may have a trick up his sleeve, make sure you guard the summoning frog that will be left here. I don't want things like Pain's invasion happening again."

With that, the three walked away from the council chambers.

Danzo looked below in disdain and sighed, another defeat from Sarutobi, as the dejected old leader steps away, his plans to take over the seat already going through his mind again.

Naruto seemed fazed by this decision of the Fire Lord to appoint him as the new Hokage, it was an unbelievable dream to start with, and one being so young, only sixteen years old and he became Hokage? How old was his father when he was appointed to take the seat?

It was then that in front of him, three Kumo Shinobi had appeared.

"We want to know where the Hokage is, can you take us to him?" The one with the blonde hair and buxom chest replied, Yamato looked Naruto and Kakashi doing the same, the blonde turned his head to both his teachers and sighed.

"Let's go talk about this in the office, Fukasaku is waiting for me, Kakashi-sensei, Yamato-sensei, please escort these three to the Hokage's office, make sure they are not seen by any of the Hyuuga." Naruto requested both Kakashi and Yamato replied,

"Don't be so formal about us now, _Hokage-sama…_ You are now our superior and as such please treat us as your subordinates!" The two saluted and Naruto sighed again dropping his head.

"I'm never going to get used to that." Uttered the blonde as he waved his hand and went home to gather his things.

The three Kumo Nin looked at each other and then back to the teenage blonde.

"So… He's the Hokage?" Asked the only male in the group, Kakashi answered, "Newly instated. He's the one responsible in defeating Akatsuki's leader, Pain."

"You're serious?" Asked Karui surprised by it, what kind of self respecting Hokage wears orange?

"You're probably wondering, 'what kind of self respecting Hokage wears orange?' right?" Kakashi asked, Karui looked surprised at the aloof Jounin, did he read her mind like that?

"Well, like we said, he's newly instated, but he'll be wearing different clothes when he gets back." Yamato replied

With that, the two Jounin escorted them to the Hokage's office.

Naruto:

It took him only ten minutes to prepare his gear to what would be another training trip. The chance that had been given to him to become Hokage, he accepted it. Knowing full well on what might happen, he might not be able to get out of the village as much as he used to, but when he saw the destruction of his village then, he knew what he had to do, and the promise he had kept to Nagato lingered on his mind.

If he would be the one to break this curse, then this was the most golden opportunity he could have ever hoped for.

He was met with his Senjutsu teacher outside his apartment, Fukasaku patiently waiting on his home, with some clothes on his hands.

"Here's a replacement haori that Shima made, she came by earlier and asked if you wear a new set of clothing. She said that wearing such ghastly colours is not proper for a Hokage."

Naruto was about to retort and ask what was wrong about orange but he was shoved back inside his room, with the Haori and another set of clothes.

A few minutes later, Naruto went out wearing the standard Konoha Uniform, but instead of the navy blue long sleeve undershirt, he was wearing black under the green flack jacket. Naruto wore his Haori and a gold chain interlocked from one side of the base of the neck of the ceremonial piece of cloth to the other.

Naruto looked down on his uniform, a grin was forming on his lips,

"Wow… I look great in this." Said the blonde, viewing the red Haori with the black flame design at the hem and the holes that opened above his elbows.

Naruto then untied the headband from his head, and instead tied it around his neck, the long black cloth dangling on his back. His hair going down to his forehead and face.

Fukasaku smiled and said, "A spitting image of your father."

Naruto smiled at that, all the while his left hand going to the back of his head scratching it, he felt proud and embarrassed at the same time.

"Now let's address those that needed to be addressed, Hokage-sama." Fukasaku teased

Naruto groaned as he said to the elder toad, "Not you too, Fukasaku-sensei!"

The elder toad merely gave a hearty laugh. The era of change was about to occur, he thought, and he could see such hopeful future in Naruto, he hoped that he gets to see it before his time, which he most certainly will, for his part in the affairs of the world is done, and the only remaining thing to do would be to polish an already sharpened blade. Naruto had already grown into such a fine young man, and grew plenty from his life. It was time that he lead his peers and call the shots, Naruto may be young, but in his heart and soul, lies the aspect of a true leader, one who would put the interest of the people first, one who could convince people to move mountains, one who could make people believe in him.

To Fukasaku, Naruto was the miracle that was needed in order to change this world. It was his wish that came true when he fought for the village against Pain. The teacher from Myobokuzan, after hearing the battle, gave a proud smile to Naruto. The boy that could do miracles, the hope of the world took this huge leap of fate. Perhaps it was meant to be that Naruto lead the people in trying times. But that huge burden must be too much to bear for a person as young as he is.

They made their way to the Hokage's office, Naruto was careful not to be seen by any of his new fans, he was still unprepared for something as big as becoming Hokage right now.

As he made his way upstairs, he opened the door to his office, and there sat in front of his desk was the trio that came from Cloud.

Kakashi looked stunned as he saw Naruto; he was the absolute spitting image of the Fourth in that uniform of his!

He sat on the Hokage's chair; a feeling of nostalgia took over him as he leaned back and said,

"I'd never imagine sitting in this chair with my age. It feels different…" The new Hokage said, his two subordinates standing firm to his side, Kakashi and Yamato spoke at the same time,

"You will eventually get used to it, Hokage-sama."

Naruto disdainfully looked at his two former teachers and shouted, "Cut the crap already!"

Kakashi and Yamato merely smiled and forced back a laugh.

He then turned to the visiting Kumo Ninjas that had sweatdrops at the back of their heads,

"So what are you guys here for?" Asked the blonde haphazardly, his left elbow resting on the desk and his chin resting on the palm of his left hand.

Samui looked at her team and Omoi gave the scroll to her, the busty female then said, "Raikage-sama has requested a Kage Summit in a week, he wishes to discuss on what to do about Akatsuki."

Naruto raised an eyebrow at that and then turned to Kakashi, "Sensei, has baa-chan sent request aids to fight against Akatsuki when I wasn't here?"

Kakashi visibly nodded, "Yes, but the requests were denied by both Earth Country and Lightning Country several times, forcing her to create the Niju Shoutai (Twenty Platoons)."

The team from Kumo was shocked to hear this; the Raikage denied pleas from Konoha to aid them against Akatsuki, Naruto turned back to the team and said,

"I know the importance of taking down the Akatsuki; I've encountered almost all of their members in the past. My only question is, why act now all of a sudden?"

Samui, the spokesperson of the team said, "The Raikage's brother, Killer bee was taken captive by Akatsuki when they were he was in Unraikyo. (Valley of Clouds and Lightning)"

Naruto then said, "So he's a host then."

The blonde then turned around and asked Yamato, "Sensei, you still have that book that Kabuto gave us? It has all the information they need about the remaining members of the organization."

Samui looked at the young Hokage for a moment and then to the one with the face plate who rummaged through his gear and gave the small book to her.

Samui turned and flipped every page, scanning the members and then gave the book back on the desk.

"I'm sorry, but this seems a bit outdated Hokage-sama, the Akatsuki seems to have gained new members in their ranks." Samui bowed, Naruto looked on in interest, and he stood up and asked,

"Who?" Was his simple question, Samui seemed shock for a moment and then said,

"Uchiha Sasuke."

This time, it was Naruto who frowned as he sat down, "Are you sure about this?"

Samui nodded her head, "I am positive, our sources have clear visual proof."

"We want to know all about Uchiha Sasuke, what are his abilities? Techniques?" Samui continued, Kakashi looked on in hidden worry for the new Hokage.

Naruto seemed to clench his fists on the table; there was a sign of anger and grief laden in his whole body, until finally he sat down.

The blonde gave a sigh and asked to the three, "What are you going to do if I gave the information to you?"

"We'll hunt him down and kill him, of course!" Karui shouted Omoi chastised the firebrand and looked at the Hokage; Naruto looked at Karui and then sighed.

"I'm sorry but the records of Uchiha Sasuke are dated, during my predecessor's reign, all records of shinobi in the past three years were updated except all known Nuke Nin, and with Sasuke joining a shady group, the search for info on him would be much harder. Old Lady Tsunade focused on the tasks of increasing the village's shinobi count that was considerably reduced during the invasion of Sound and Sand. I'm sorry I can't help you any further, but the old records would be the only thing that would help you."

Naruto lied; he knew some of Sasuke's techniques that could help the team but he didn't want Sasuke dead, no. Revenge is a very dark path and a path that lead to unfulfilled, emptiness and nothingness. It was no use in bringing back the dead, there was nothing to gain, only everything to lose.

"But before taking down Sasuke, your teacher may still be alive, focus on finding and rescuing him, first." Naruto advised, Kakashi merely stepped back, and sighed, Naruto seemed to have handled that situation well. Samui looked at the Hokage in shock and asked

"H-How can you be sure?"

Naruto simply replied, "Akatsuki needs the hosts alive, I am one of them, I should know. A member blurted out that they needed us in living and breathing conditions. I have the most experience out of the nine hosts in handling them."

It was then that Naruto asked Samui about the Kage summit, "Where will the summit be held, Kunoichi-san?"

"Tetsu no Kuni (Land of Iron). We thank you for your cooperation Hokage-sama and the info you have given us that Killer Bee is still alive."

Naruto merely nodded, as he placed his backpack on his shoulders, Fukasaku was patiently waiting at the desk.

"Yamato-sensei, escort these guys on the Records department in the library, Kakashi-sensei, I trust you can handle things here while I'm gone?"

Kakashi nodded and Yamato saluted,

"All shall be done in the request of the Hokage!"

Naruto put a finger up, about to say something, but decided to stop and said, "Forget it…"

With a dejected sigh, he was met with his new teacher, Fukasaku, Naruto bit his right thumb and drew blood, swiping it on his left palm, he began trailing five handseals and there appeared a very small frog. Fukasaku spoke to the small frog

"Alright Gamamayu, you're going to be the summoner here in Konoha while I train Naruto at Myobokuzan, make sure you stick close to the masked Jounin with the slanting hitai-ite. Summon Naruto back here within five days."

The small frog gave a salute and Naruto nodded, he looked up in the starlit night sky as he was about to leave. The old Toad Fukasaku asked him, "Why are you interested in Fuinjutsu, Naruto-chan?"

Naruto merely gave an answer, "Because if I want to beat Madara and the rest of the Akatsuki, I'd have to learn anything that I can. I saw the effect of what seals can do, this will compensate for me not having any bloodline. I'll just have to learn harder than normal…"

Naruto expression then turned grim, "That and I thought I'd have the chance to counter that bastard's Sharingan technique."

An image of the spiral masked man crossed his mind. Naruto frowned.

"The meeting of the Five Kages will occur in one week's time, I'll pour everything I have to this training, please Fukasaku-sensei… Teach me."

Fukasaku merely gave a knowing smile.

Over the course of Five Days, Fukasaku would be surprised just how fast Naruto learns and how long his drive to succeed is.

The Rokudaime Hokage has begun to make his move. This time, nothing is going to hold him back.

To be continued…

* * *

Story idea that popped into my head several days ago… Also, a tryout to remove my writer's block, I suddenly had it when I went on break several days ago due to doing volunteer work near town because of the floods. I didn't get anything done. Though I hope you enjoy this one, I just don't know if this would be good, I honestly think this would be unique take on the Naruto series as he becomes Hokage and unites the world under his banner. Also, I LOL'd pretty hard on the newest chapter because of Madara's senile behaviour.

At least the series is about to start the Ninja war, I just hope it doesn't end up like Bleach's "Winter War". All of the top three Espada were killed off with Halibel being offed by Aizen because he didn't need them, what a stupid thing to happen!

* * *

* * *


	2. Starting all over, Ascension

Since my story received such positive reviews, I'll update this earlier than anticipated.

Hope you enjoy!

The Hokage's Will

Chapter Two: Starting All Over, Ascension

* * *

Two days after Pain's attack on Konoha, the village had begun rebuilding itself from scratch once again. Kakashi, as the acting Hokage for Naruto as the blonde polishes himself enough for his position, had sent emissaries to Nami (Wave) and Haru (Spring).

Currently, the ones assigned for the mission to Wave, looked up at the gigantic sign that had greeted them at the entrance of the gigantic bridge.

"Well I'll be a monkey's uncle." Konohamaru muttered, Udon then said, "Technically, you're a monkey summoner not an uncle."

Konohamaru glared daggers at his snot dripping teammate and said, "It was an expression, jackass!"

Indeed, after training hard under Ebisu's watch, Konohamaru, after learning of Naruto's summons, earned the right to sign the contract with the Monkey summons. Although not as monstrous as Naruto's Toad summons, the monkeys were strong. The monkeys excelled in close to mid range combat. Konohamaru had to learn how to handle a Bo staff. His first summon, happened to be the son of Monkey King, Enma. A young Monkey in training that could transform into a three quartered staff. And although he could have used that against Pain in their fight, he wasn't very skilled in using Goku at the moment, which was a pre-requisite in earning the right to use Enma. Much to his never ending frustration about it, Konohamaru persevered, if only to catch up to Naruto who could summon the boss frog, Gamabunta, in battle.

Moegi merely stared up at the name of the bridge and seemed awed with their Bozu.

"The Great Naruto Bridge… Wow… I can't believe they named a bridge to the bozu. Hey, Konohamaru-kun, how do you think Naruto-oyabun has gone far?"

Konohamaru shrugged, "Don't know really, if he fought that freaky Pain guy and won, he's gotten so much stronger. I wish I could have seen their fight closer!"

"Speaking of oyabun, I haven't seen him in the past few days… Where do you think he went?" Udon asked, Konohamaru huffed and bonked Udon's head lightly

"Training, of course! He's of to do more epic things! Like saving a princess…"

"He's done that." Moegi cut off, Konohamaru's eyes bugged out and said, "What!?"

Udon replied, "You haven't heard Konohamaru-kun? Bozu was in a movie, a few years ago. She saved Fujikaze Yukie, the actress, who turned out to be a real life princess."

Ebisu, who fixed his shades grew somewhat turning into a green eyed monster because of the rumoured ending of the said film, nodded and said, "It's true, Konohamaru-kun. Naruto-kun did save Koyuki-hime."

Konohamaru shouted, "You've got to be kidding me! Oyabun already did that!?"

All three of his travelling companions nodded at the same time.

Ebisu then said, "I'm worried about the rumours spreading about… They say that the council has already assigned a new Hokage, when Tsunade-sama is still alive but critically injured. I'm afraid Danzo-sama has taken over the seat of power. Tsunade-sama was the only blockade that Danzo had for the title, but Kakashi-san said that we need to disperse the rumours, the new Hokage is not Danzo but the details were hush-hush."

Konohamaru looked on raising his left eyebrow in doubt, "Nah, I won't believe that, I bet it's the boss who became Hokage!"

Ebisu laughed at that remark, "Konohamaru-kun, while indeed Naruto-kun has shown great potential and that fight with Pain has indeed shown that Naruto-kun has improved, he is still far too young to become Hokage, for one, he still needs experience in leading, the rumours said he hasn't lead a team before, so I doubt he's eligible at the moment."

Oh, how Ebisu would eat those words right out of his mouth when the announcement came.

Konohamaru shrugged hey, it was just a suggestion.

As they approached the house that Kakashi had instructed them, Ebisu knocked on the door and coughed a little clearing his voice.

He had heard from Kakashi that the lady of the house was an unmarried mother who had looks of a twenty year old model. Ebisu was naturally sold on the mission!

He wanted to have a big first impression after all!

Adjusting his glasses for a cool effect, Ebisu's suave and coolness of the situation had him met with a frying pan to his face.

**WHAM!**

"Mom! It's another stalker! Honestly, why don't you just marry someone, mom? That way these guys won't be bothering us anymore!"

Konohamaru then glared at the boy and shouted, "Hey, why'd you hit sensei like that!? Sure he's a closet pervert but he's completely harmless!"

Ebisu struggled to get up and clutch his nose in pain, that brat has some powerful arm swing!

Moegi smiled at the boy with the fisherman's hat and said, "Actually, we're just emissaries from Konoha, we're here on account of the acting Hokage requesting someone by the name of Tazuna-san to assist us in some rebuilding."

Inari raised an eyebrow at that but when he heard the word Konoha, his eyes immediately sparked to life, "Oh, from Konoha! I'm sorry; mom has a lot of guy problems actually. Just this week, I almost fired the crossbow on the guy that was spying on mom by the tree outside. So I'm a bit careful."

"Great detection skills." Ebisu commented, grabbing his first aid kid and an antiseptic.

"Anyway, you're looking for my grandpa; he's in the main town, why don't you guys just wait for him here? He'll be back soon."

The boy then gestured for the guests to come in, that the four politely agreed, and went inside, Inari was ecstatic,

"Hey, have you heard someone by the name of Uzumaki Naruto?" He asked, the three genins looked at each other and nodded.

"You mean oyabun? Yeah, he's pretty well known in our place, he just saved us from destruction just two days ago!" Konohamaru mentioned, grinning.

"You don't say? Tell me what nii-san did!" Inari demanded, his mother then stepped out of the kitchen and smiled.

"Now, now Inari, it's not nice to demand something from our guests this early." Tsunami said, Ebisu looked at the motherly figure that appeared before him, absolutely stunned by her earthly beauty- no, her goddess like features!

"Ah, I'm sorry for barging in Missis…"

"Tsunami."

"I'm sorry for barging in Mrs Tsunami, but we're here to ask for Tazuna-san's help in some repairs in the village."

Tsunami nodded with a smile, "Oh? What happened?"

Konohamaru continued, "Like we said, this guy almost destroyed us if it weren't for Naruto-oyabun!"

Tsunami then sat down as Konohamaru had said Naruto's fight against Pain. All in exaggerated detail. Ebisu meanwhile, couldn't really correct Konohamaru on that one. After all, it was a close interpretation on what happened; sure it was a bit exaggerated in some areas like Konohamaru mentioning his "Super-awesome-Rasengan blasting one body to chunks and bits." But it was close, as close as a twelve year old's interpretation anyway.

A knock on the door was heard, Inari was about to grab his weapon of choice for the day, the frying pan, until he had heard the man slurred and shouted incoherently from the other side of the door.

"Let me in! It'sh me! Grampa! BLEAGH!"

The sound of hurling and a few chunks of liquid splashing on the ground were heard outside.

"Uh-oh." Konohamaru uttered, Moegi voiced her concern, "Did he just barf?"

Ebisu sighed; Kakashi didn't tell him that the person they were searching for was a drunkard, this was going to be a long explanation.

* * *

Two days earlier:

Naruto had arrived at Myobokuzan, many of the citizens from Konoha didn't know where he had gone to, and he hoped it stay that way for a while, he was fearful of what might happen.

But now that he had made up his mind, it was time to start thinking ahead. Jiraiya always did say if he put his mind to it, he'd be a better shinobi possibly better than any of his generation group and beyond, Jiraiya had told him how he was much like the person Naruto is.

The old pervert told him about how he was just not focused enough in handling one task in training back then, when Jiraiya was a kid, he would often neglect training in favour of peeping. That and his idea of being a ninja was to make Tsunade fall in love with him for his display of machismo. That didn't really suit well with the said girl as it seemed what he received from Tsunade was a beating that almost made him kick the bucket.

A little pep talk from the Sandaime changed his ways a little. Sure, he was still the lecherous sleazebag that Tsunade occasionally nailed to the wall or flung him to lower Earth orbit, but he got to go serious about his ninja career and look where that got him in this lifetime.

Naruto went inside Shima and Fukasaku's home, intent on learning all that he can.

The old lady toad spoke to him,

"Naruto-chan, there's the bookshelves about Fuinjutsu near our rooms; if you want to start reading on the basics about sealing, then go ahead. But be advised it's kind of hard to do when you apply it. I suggest you do that in the morning, you can read at night. Be advised Naruto-chan, Fuinjutsu normally takes up a lot of characters and symbols to be written, you should have an extensive vocabulary to write the seals down. Jiraiya-chan had to learn about writing them for three weeks non-stop… Are you sure five days is all that you need? Learning this is purely self-study, we can only watch you perform them."

Naruto looked at Shima and said, "It's all that I need."

Shima smiled at this, "Very well, I'll leave you to your devices Naruto-chan."

Naruto nodded, as he began taking notes on a piece of paper and began writing down some of the important parts that seemed important as he read.

_Fuinjutsu- The art of sealing is still a very mystified concept in the world. It has been an ancient art existing longer than the Rikudo Sennin's time. Artisans of this field are rare, as often, learning the art of sealing is meticulous and time consuming. __Often the use of Fuinjutsu is to bind an object or living organism into another, existing in one being yet not being the same. Different characters have different effects, often the amalgam of seals causes a new effect to occur, this is called, transmutation as it gives countless possibilities to produce with just a simple stroke._

Naruto then turned the page and continued.

_Fuinjutsu is much of a science as it is mysticism. Sealing techniques are what preserved the human civilization from extinction. The reason being that Fuinjutsu has been used in ages passed as a means in everyday lives__ like energy consumption and storage, the uses of Fuinjutsu is endless._

Naruto soon got bored of the introduction, turning the page; he skimmed the very first ten pages and then wound up on starting the basics. Naruto immediately raised an eyebrow at this and went outside of the elder toads' house.

He could hear the rushing toad oil falling from the cascading waterfall, there were no crickets in here, as if there were; they would have been decimated by Gamatatsu alone. But there were the stars out tonight, and he did have a flashlight in his back pack.

So with a flick of his hands together, he formed the seal for Kage Bunshin and in a matter of seconds, one thousand clones immediately came into existence with a loud pop along with a copy of the book per clone.

The original Naruto then shouted, "Alright guys, you have four hours to study page ten of the book up to page forty! Let's make this the most rigorous training we've ever had yet!"

The clones all nodded and gave a shout.

* * *

Konoha, present time:

Kakashi viewed the people in front of his desk, with a tap on the desk, he looked on and sighed, there weren't missions to hand out for the moment since the village is undergoing major repairs, Yamato was out there overseeing the construction and being the one with the Mokuton ability, he's been asked to restore some of the houses. Kakashi held back a laugh at the disgruntled and fatigued image of his kouhai crossing his mind. The villagers make it sound so easy on Yamato.

Kakashi's musings were quickly vanished from his thoughts as he heard Hyuuga Neji clearing his throat.

"AH, I SEE YOU HAVE BECOME THE HOKAGE! RIVAL KAKASHI!" Gai shouted, of course, Kakashi's mind, going on autopilot, replied,

"Oh Gai, what are you doing here?"

Said man pointed a finger to the proxy Hokage and said, "KAH! KAKASHI! YOU AND YOUR HIP WAYS! THAT IS WHY YOU ARE MY RIVAL! I CHALLENGE YOU KAKASHI, WHO WILL MAKE A BETTER A HOKAGE!? IF I LOSE, I'LL REBUILD KONOHA WITH MY ELBOWS, AND IF I CAN'T DO THAT, I'LL USE MY FEET AND IF I CAN'T DO THAT…"

"The matter of leading the village isn't a contest, sensei!" Neji yelled, Tenten nodded in approval of Neji's outburst.

Kakashi then said, "Look, before your sensei delves deep into his mind to parts unknown and spout more of his rules, I'm handing over this mission to you guys to Spring Country, requesting for aid alright? Don't open the scroll, it's only meant for the princess of the land since she's the commander-in-chief there."

Neji merely nodded and exited and grumbled, "Of all the eccentric Jounin out there, why was I under him?"

Kakashi gave an eye smile, of course the scroll contained the letter about all of the aid and supplies that they might need, along with a copy of the Icha Icha Paradise movie he wanted signed, but they didn't need to know that. Who says you can't be abusive about your powers every once and a while?

Now to find a team that's gullible enough to go into a wild goose chase. God how he loved being a proxy for the Hokage. Ebisu and his team was the first victim, so who's going to be the next unfortunate shmuck?

Back in Myobokuzan, a blonde haired teenager sneezed and a shiver ran down his spine making him lose his concentration.

"Something tells me I need to finish my training faster than usual." The blonde said sniffing and continued to read the book.

"Now to oversee how Sakura and the others are fairing."

Kakashi got up from his seat and went out of the office, and went outside; the frog summoner by the side of the desk perched on his shoulder.

Once they got out, he immediately went to ground zero and looked for the personal tent that held the comatose Tsunade. Once inside, he greeted Sakura who, along with Shizune, were meticulously guarding and taking care of the Godaime.

"Kakashi-sensei… Is it true that Konoha is now enlisting Sasuke-kun as a Nuke nin?" Sakura asked, not looking at Kakashi.

Kakashi hadn't heard of this! Naruto didn't declare Sasuke a missing nin… Yet!

"Who gave those rumours?" Kakashi asked, Sakura looked down a sullen expression crossing her face.

"It's not a fact yet, Kakashi-san, but with speculation that Danzo-sama is going to be Hokage, we fear for the worst to happen to Sasuke." Shizune answered, Kakashi nodded.

"Well, dispel those rumours for now, I've already said this to Team Ebisu, Danzo isn't the replacement for Hokage." Kakashi answered, alleviating any worries from his former student.

"Do you know who's going to be selected, Kakashi-sensei?"

Kakashi kept a straight poker face and replied, "Not going to, already selected. Though he wants to keep it quiet for a while, said that there were still things left undone."

Shizune raised an eyebrow at this and then noticed, "That's right, I completely forgot! Where is Naruto? We need to check up on him for any signs of injuries!"

"Mah, Naruto's fine, he's just doing some unfinished business…" Kakashi casually replied and added, "He'll be back here in a matter of days, don't worry; he's perfectly fine."

Understanding that sentence that Kakashi passed off to Shizune, made the older woman slightly frown, she may have already an inkling suspicion what with Kakashi's hint at the end, but she wasn't going to say it out loud. No, with the announcement that the successor of Tsunade be introduced by the end of the week, it meant that the new Hokage or the person that she suspects would be up to something.

Sakura only nodded and focused back on healing her master. She just hoped that Danzo was not the one that was going to be Hokage.

As they went back to caring for Tsunade, it was then that they heard a voice, calling out to Sakura to go out.

The said girl walked out only to be met with Shikamaru with a completely healed leg.

"Sakura, the rookie nine of our time decided to have a talk about how to deal with everything that's happened."

Sakura then nodded, she followed suit entrusting the care of Tsunade to Shizune, who nodded and Kakashi remained quiet.

"Have you… Realized what that talk might be, Kakashi-san?" Asked Shizune, looking sullen, Kakashi looked up and said,

"I kind of got the idea of what it's about." Kakashi said.

Once Shikamaru escorted Sakura to the place where all of them could talk about what Shikamaru wanted to tell, all the present of the Rookie Nine, minus Sasuke and Naruto, were already in the training field that Sakura recognized was the place that Team Seven was created during the bell test three years ago.

"Shikamaru, it isn't like you to call all of us out here and have a discussion." Kiba said, looking serious. When Shikamaru went and did some effort around the village it meant one thing, the dire consequences are about to occur.

"Indeed, your behaviour suggests that you are going to speak about something that could change our very perception of what is to come." Shino concurred.

Ever the observant Aburame, Shikamaru lazily scratched the back of his neck and said,

"C-Can we please start? I-I need to tend to my clansmen and the compound, the damages are quite severe after that attack." Hinata said,

Sakura looked sullen when she saw Hinata, it felt like something had hit her when she saw Hinata knocking on death's door, down on the ground and bleeding all for the sake of Naruto…

"My dad is helping with the repairs downtown; I need to go out there as well. My God, I don't know what would have happened if Naruto hadn't arrived later." Chouji mentioned.

"Alright, alright. I got it, just let me say it first…"

Shikamaru then walked to the side and leaned on one of the erected stumps on the training grounds.

"Have any of you… Felt something close to mortifying when we were out there, fighting against that monster, Pain?"

All of the former Rookie Nine remained silent. All of them were looking down for a reason.

"Pain managed to kill more than half of our population when that Jutsu was used on the village, I saw a lot of people died in just a flash, in just a moment, I saw people dying left and right, children crying or dead… I never felt so horrible… If you were near the decryption department, close to downtown you could have seen the very effect of the epicentre of that jutsu…"

Shikamaru felt a shiver crawl down his spine, holding his formerly injured leg, all those horrified souls that were dead just mere days ago… Flashing before his eyes.

"Then just in the evening after the attack, when I just got my leg healed, I was down by the records section since it was close to our home. I overheard this conversation from three foreign nin that came, they were Kumo nin…"

Shikamaru continued, "I heard that Sasuke became part of Akatsuki."

Everyone seemed to gasp at this, Kiba shouted,

"What the hell is going on…? What on earth… What on earth possessed Sasuke to join that organization!?"

"I don't know, but based on the reports from Intel, Akatsuki had managed to capture the Eight Tailed Host. You can already see where this is going." Shikamaru answered, Ino then spoke up.

"But that can't be right! Sasuke joined the same organization as his brother! The same organization that killed Asuma-sensei!"

Shikamaru sighed and continued,

"It wasn't the fact that Sasuke captured the Eight Tailed Host that served as the breaking point for a foreign village to move out. It was the fact that the Eight Tailed Host was the brother of the Raikage. You understand now? Sasuke caused such an international uproar that the way I see it, Danzo or not, the New Hokage has no choice but to place Sasuke on the Bingo book, lest he or she wants our village to go to war. Besides, I'd be damned if they take Naruto."

This time, Shikamaru's expression turned grim.

This time Kiba's fists were shaking, "So it comes to this… Then… Do we have a choice? Sasuke was our friend, but I'm not going to let him take Naruto."

Shino replied, in his monotone, "If persuasion through words cannot reach Sasuke anymore, then there's no helping it. I'd rather kill Sasuke than lose Naruto."

"Wait! How can you be sure that the new Hokage would just let this stand by!?" Sakura asked, Shikamaru explained to Sakura,

"Sakura, no one who is not a ninja of Konoha is allowed to go the records department, you understand, right? That's where they store info on ANBU profiles, Shinobi profiles and most of all, Jutsu and Konoha techs. You think that the Hokage will allow three foreign Nin to just casually walk in there? They need permission and supervision, and I happen to see Yamato-sensei there."

"W-What's going to happen?" Ino looked at Shikamaru in worry; Shikamaru grabbed one of his teacher's trench knives and gripped the handle as tight as he can.

"We're going to take care of Sasuke, with or without Naruto's approval. It's bad enough that he carries the burden for all of us; we can't rely on him forever. We need to grow up as well." Shikamaru said, it was then that Ino and Sakura started breaking down, Hinata remained silent in the whole ordeal.

"Sasuke… Is now liable for his actions, there's nothing that can be done… I wanted to tell this to Naruto, but he isn't here, I've tried finding him everywhere, the Ramen Shop, the training fields, his apartment even the goddamn monument, he isn't anywhere." Shikamaru said,

Sakura then said to Shikamaru, "Take me to the Hokage…"

"Tch, like that'll be easy. The whole council is hiding the fact of who's going to be the next Hokage; I even asked my dad who it was. He just said that the matter will reveal itself in three days. I'm sorry, Sakura, but if you want to talk to the Hokage, you're going to have to wait three more days to finally speak to him/her."

Sakura could only let the tears fall from her eyes.

* * *

Myobokuzan:

Two days, two days had passed and Naruto's progress has been occurring in leaps and bounds. He had most of the symbols and characters down by the morning of the second day, using his Kage Bunshin in a span of four hours to learn about the symbols and characters. He had the basis for sealing done two days ago and now, he had been practicing his applied knowledge on it.

One sealing technique in particular, caught his eye.

_Fuukahoin (Fire Suppression Seal)_

_The ability to suppress any Fire, in its first use, the seal was used to put down forest fires, burning houses and wild fires that are close to human civilizations. _

"This is the seal that Ero-sennin used to suppress that Black Fire three years ago…"

Naruto then made his clones turn on the page that he wanted them to turn and shouted, "Alright, this is another sealing procedure to master, can you guys do this?"

They all nodded as each of them grabbed an ink and brush from their bags and grabbed another scroll.

Shima and Fukasaku looked were then requested to make a powerful Katon Jutsu. The two frogs looked at each other and nodded. Putting up their handseals, they shouted,

"Katon: Gamayu Endan! (Fire Release: Toad Oil Flame Bullet)" The two frogs then looked up and blew the devastating fire Jutsu upwards. The fire erupted and had spread in a wide ark; the clones then quickly began to work. Pouring chakra on to the writings of the seal, the clones slammed their hands on it.

"Fuinjutsu: Fuukahoin!" The original shouted, as tendrils of chakra escaped from the scrolls, beginning to grapple the fire that was dancing in midair.

The chakra began to siphon the flames forcing it down to the scroll, the symbol of fire, etching to the scroll as the symbols and characters began surrounding the symbol of fire.

Naruto grinned, a success!

"Well you have a pretty firm grip of understanding Fuinjutsu now, these are just the basics, writing seals are the basic of the basics. Since you can actually do seals in writing easier; we can finally move on to the sealing techniques that you don't have to write, but you let you chakra weave the seal for you!" Fukasaku said, Naruto wiped the sweat from his brow and nodded enthusiastically.

Three days left…

* * *

Unknown Location:

Sasuke had informed his team to prepare and head to Konoha, as they exited and began running as fast as they can. Sasuke mentioned that Taka would no longer have a use for Akatsuki, they had paid their debt, and they were going away for good.

On the serene forest far from Sasuke, a spiral like pattern in the air rippled and spun, revealing the mask of Tobi.

Sasuke was jumping from branch to branch, when suddenly, he was met with the man that had blocked their path, Suigetsu, who was following Sasuke, stopped and asked the leader of their group.

"What's wrong Sasuke?"

Sasuke was staring at the masked persona that was Uchiha Madara.

Karin seemed surprised by the sudden appearance, it was as if the man had popped out of nowhere!

"Hey, Sasuke." Was the man's only reply, Sasuke asked the man

"How did you know where I was?"

Madara only leaned in closer and said, "Don't underestimate me… This technique is well within my powers."

It was then that Sasuke spoke, "What do you want with me now? Taka is no longer part of Akatsuki; we have no further use for you."

"I said I'd have to kill you if you betray Akatsuki and you broke your promise to me." The man's single visible Sharingan squinted as it looked at Sasuke.

Sasuke seemed confused of the man and asked, "What are you talking about?"

"The Eight tailed beast… You failed to capture it Sasuke."

Karin then said, "But I thought we captured it! We even gave it to you!"

Madara stared at them quietly; Suigetsu seemed agitated by the man as well as Juugo.

"It was a fake… The eight tails pulled a fast one on you… I'm really disappointed in you guys." The man said dissatisfaction in his voice.

Sasuke seemed to realize his mistake even with he failed to notice that the tentacle that he severed during the fight with the Eight Tails could have contained Killer Bee.

His musings were cut off when Suigetsu shouted, "What do you want us to do about it?! It's not our business anymore; since we did your part of the bargain you do it yourselves!"

"No… You will finish your last job as part of Akatsuki. Forget about the Eight Tails, I already sent someone to capture him… There's something else I want all of you to do."

Sasuke then asked, as he lowered his base, "What if I said no?"

Madara replied in a casual manner. "Then you'll have to fight me to get to Konoha. I won't let you pass."

Sasuke's hand flickered with lightning as it crackled loudly and held it close to his chest, the Chidori coming to life.

"I'll force my way through!"

With a flash, Sasuke immediately closed in on Madara, with Sasuke's hand already extended to Madara's chest.

But just when Sasuke had thought that he had speared Tobi with the Chidori, he soon saw himself, actually _phasing_ through the man.

Madara simply said, "It's a little too late to go to Konoha now."

"You're goal is futile now… Too bad… Konohagakure no longer exists… My minion, Pain destroyed it."

Sasuke looked surprised his eyes wide at that, this bastard! He took away his goal!

He could feel his anger welling up, rising like tides smashing against the shore. Sasuke slowly inched his hand towards Kusanagi, about to go all out on Tobi, until he saw a green plant with jagged patterns in the middle rise from the branch that Madara stood on, Suigetsu seemed surprised and asked who was the person that appeared?

"Calm down… He's with me." Madara reassured them.

"So who's the new Hokage?" Asked Madara,

"The talks were very secretive, but from the rumours going around Konoha, they say that the next in line for Hokage is Danzo." Zetsu mentioned, this got Sasuke's interest.

Madara looked at Sasuke for a moment, he could feel the sudden rise of killing intent coming from Sasuke, Madara seemed to smile under his mask in this predicament.

"I thought as much…" Madara said, Sasuke asked

"Danzo is Hokage?"

Tobi only said, "It's just factual speculation. But he is the most probable candidate at the current situation. He's the one responsible for making your brother do what he did… And now, He's Hokage."

Sasuke gritted his teeth this time his right hand was now holding Kusanagi.

"Because you and Pain had made such a commotion, the Five Kages had begun to move. They're about to hold a meeting."

Sasuke remained silent at this as Zetsu continued,

"I'll explain the rest, Sasuke."

"You see, Pain, took initiative in capturing the Nine Tailed Host and we let him. Take into mind that Pain was one of our strongest members. He conquered Amegakure and can do a jutsu that can take out an entire village."

"**Yeah, he could probably kick your assess without a problem!"**

At the mentioning of the phrase, Nine Tailed Host, Sasuke pictured Naruto who had stared at him back then, those ruthless, blood coloured irises and that almost malicious, animalistic slit he ever saw.

"But when Pain had invaded Konoha, he terrorized the village and destroyed most of it. Now Konoha is in ruins. But Pain still lost to one person."

"**He lost to Uzumaki Naruto, the nine tailed host."**

Suigetsu raised an eyebrow and asked, "So this Naruto defeated Pain all by himself?"

"That's right, he's gotten pretty strong, he maybe even stronger than Sasuke."

The Uchiha scoffed at the idea and said, "I don't care about that, the five kages are the problem."

Suigetsu then said, "Well, what are you going to do then Sasuke? Danzo's your target right? Konoha is pretty much decimated. If Danzo is going to that meeting, shouldn't we just go over there by ourselves?"

Sasuke seemed to contemplate at this, considering the almost near impossible chance of not having a head on collision with any of the Kages.

Karin however, seemed adamant about the whole thing, for one, it was the freaking Five Kages, there was no way that Sasuke could even hope to fight them all at once! Only a madman would dare do so!

"We'll go to the meeting and kill the Five Kages, our plans have changed." Sasuke said, without as much as hesitation in his voice.

Karin could feel herself shivering at the thought of facing the top ninjas of each of the Five Major Villages. For someone even if it is Sasuke, facing all five of them in one place is beyond suicide. Madara however, seemed to encourage Sasuke's hair brained idea.

"So where is this meeting?" Karin asked, resigning herself to her fate.

Madara motioned for Zetsu to lead them and Zetsu did so. The jagged pattern of the leaf separated, seeing figure of a man, whose body and face was separated in black and white, and it kept separating, tearing himself down in the middle.

To the rest that are not used to this, they were utterly disgusted when they saw Zetsu, fully severing himself in two, as his white half lead the way with the four members of Taka following behind.

Juugo seemed unsure of the predicament, "Can we trust them, Sasuke?"

"Let's just see what happens… If he tries anything funny, I'll use Amaterasu on him, there's something I've been meaning to test out anyway." Sasuke mentioned, as they jumped straight towards the Land of Iron.

"I can't believe Nagato used Rinne Tensei like that. That was supposed to be reserved for me, what a betrayal… Uzumaki Naruto, he's thrown a wrench to my plans. Zetsu… I think it's time we step up, finally let the world know what we are truly aiming for. Time for the 'Tsuki no Me' to come into fruition."

* * *

Myobokuzan:

Naruto had never thought how seals were so versatile, that introduction from the first book didn't do the endless possibilities of Fuinjutsu justice! It was unimaginable! From one of the writings of the book, it was said that Fuinjutsu, in the hands of a true artisan could turn into the most deadly weapon! Right now, he had even created a seal that gives the body a sudden electrical jolt whenever someone was struck with Genjutsu, it didn't matter what kind of Genjutsu it was, as long as the seal was placed, the seal would trigger and command the chakra to cause a defibrillator effect and jolt on the Neural nerve cells to disrupt the chakra flow. It was painful but since he was still new to the sealing arts, it was understandable. Hopefully he could turn this new art that he had learn as a sort of hobby, maybe even incorporate it for some, 'entertainment'.

Now that he had only one day left before going back he thought about all that has happened so far, all of the events that had come into culmination due to the people responsible. It seemed like fate was a stack of dominoes, one decision affected all. In his case, it was absolutely true.

Going through a set of handseals, he had discovered that in Fuinjutsu, the sequence of seals had purpose.

For example, the boar seal meant the grasp of the earth, it was about stasis, as earth was unbending to anyone's will; the earth symbolized fortitude and strength. In Fuinjutsu, doing the seal of the boar meant putting an object in stasis and suppression, forcing something to go down or become inactive.

Next was the Dragon, it symbolized uninhibited instinct and nobility. The dragon meant superiority and benevolence, the wind above their heads soaring into the sky. In Fuinjutsu, the Dragon bears the ability to release tension, relieve. Convert raw power to something more manageable, a buffer if you will.

"Oi Naruto, here's the request you made four days ago!"

Naruto's musings were cut off when he saw Gamakichi leaping towards him with the said object in hand. Naruto ran towards Gamakichi and thanked his long time toad friend.

"Thanks, Gamakichi, this is perfect!"

Once Naruto grabbed the object in his hand, he raised it up above his shoulder and met it at eye level.

Naruto had requested a Fuuma Shuriken be made on the same metal that Asuma had with his trench knives. Meaning the chakra absorbed by the blade would be amplified. But what set this Fuuma Shuriken different from the rest was the black handle it had at the ring in the middle. Since Fuuma Shuriken had a folding like trigger, it looked like a weapon that could be used in both close range and long range.

Most of the all, weapon had one unique trait that Naruto wanted.

The edge was reversed. The blunt part was meant to bludgeon, it could be lethal, but the most important was that the blade would only be used when thrown to pin down an opponent or distract them long enough for Naruto to take down.

"I don't get it why you want that Shuriken to have a handle, it's not like you'll be able to fight with it most of the time at close range, and the Fuuma Shuriken's locking mechanism when it's closed is flimsy!" Gamakichi explained, Naruto replied,

"Not really, I've got a seal design to interlocking it in place and then releasing it in its shuriken state."

Naruto then grabbed an ink and a brush. Since the Fuuma Shuriken was made from a different metal, it didn't exactly had the same colour as a normal Fuuma Shuriken, in fact it was silver, the only thing dark in the weapon was the handle that was in the ring at the middle.

Naruto then began to write the kanji for blade on the first side of the shuriken and then wrote the kanji for windmill on the other.

Naruto then put his hands together for a series of seals,

First, he started with the dog seal, symbolizing loyalty and obedience, for the Fuuma Shuriken to activate upon verbal command. Then he used the seal of monkey, the symbol of intelligence and autonomy, to activate by what command phrase that Naruto wanted and to make it automatically revert back to its blade form without a need for a verbal command when unneeded. Then he used the Dragon to buffer his chakra slowly into the blade and then tiger, the symbol of power and pride, to activate the metal's amplification properties.

Naruto then slammed his right hand on the character of blade, as it is the initial seal that he had written.

"Woah, aniki, what did you do?" Gamakichi asked, Naruto grinned,

"It's one of the easy seals I managed to come up with just yesterday, I called it Ningu Eihei (Ninja Tool Sentinel). You'd be really surprised just how much Kage Bunshin you need just to make up a seal! It feels like twenty years doing all that work!" Naruto exclaimed, Gamakichi laughed.

Naruto was still in the process of learning the no-symbol style Fuinjutsu, but he was getting there, Fukasaku said that being adept in it is all that's needed for a while, he had a meeting to attend to anyway.

So with tomorrow his last day before going back to his village, he trained with getting to know how to use his Fuuma Shuriken instead.

As the end of his five day training period coming closer and closer, Naruto, on his last day, decided to sleep and rest before being summoned back to Konoha. Naruto, in his heart, was preparing him for his newest task:

Guiding Konoha through the tides of uncertainty, protecting everyone and finally, bring about a new age of a world that his former teacher had longed for.

* * *

Konoha, five days after Pain's attack:

"Are you ready?" Kakashi asked, the figure at the back wore his red and black haori a folded Fuuma Shuriken strapped on his back, the black long sleeve shirt under his green vest and black pants, wearing the red and white hat that symbolized his authority within Konoha. The symbol of fire placed at the tip forward.

The figure nodded, the elders by the side were standing sideways as they wait for the figure to step out of the door towards the balcony of the Hokage's building that miraculously survived from Pain's assault.

'_As long as there are leaves, the will of fire shall never die.'_

The figure looked on at the pictures of the Five Hokages that had ruled before him, as he took a step forward like a true leader, the elders and advisers, then saw the silhouette of Hokages past, the back of Senju Hashirama, Tobirama, Hiruzen, Minato and Tsunade, going out to face that roaring crowd, his face hidden by the hat that had been placed above his head.

Kakashi, Yamato, Koharu and Homura were wide eyed, they were breathless as they saw the person walking towards the people. From the midst of tragedy and despair, the will of fire has shown and it had shined brightly in the radiant sun.

As the people saw the person that had walked towards them, the winds howled and swayed in his presence, it was then that the new Hokage.

To many that had seen the red and black Haori whose hem of the clothing, danced into the wind as the person walked towards them, they immediately recognized the person under that hat.

Many would recall this as the moment of absolute change, Flashes of memories littered the minds of the people as they saw the face of the New Hokage removing the hat that he had coveted for so long ever since his childhood.

"As long as there are leaves in this village, the will of fire shall never die! I am the Rokudaime Hokage! I am Uzumaki Naruto and I will lead this village from now until my very last breath!"

The sounds of cheers and yells of praises could only be heard on the fifth day of the Rokudaime's reign.

'_Let fire burn brightest upon the most wise.'_

To be continued…

* * *

Well here's chapter two, I really didn't think it would be this good but since I got so many reviews about it. I might as well update this first rather than my other stories.

To those that might be asking, how will I address the romance in this? Simply put, later on, as being the Hokage, Naruto would have only one day to oversee the rebuilding of the village and then he has to go to the Kage Summit, as it stands, it is absolutely hectic for Naruto to address anything that would involve romance and in the one day that Naruto is in the village, there will be drama, oh there will be drama. Indeed there will be confrontation but in the Kage summit and I still have plans in using Danzo, so he isn't out of the picture yet.

Also for making Naruto learns more Jutsu- I don't really think he needs that much Jutsu right now. For one, his Kawazu Kumite (Frog Kata) is more than enough in fighting up close against Sasuke, if you have seen the Pain vs. Naruto fight where Naruto uses this, the Pain bodies and Nagato himself did not see the nature chakra that had hit one of his bodies when in fact, Nagato could see the chakra net surrounding the village above and letting his animal realm provide the distraction. If the Rinnegan can't see the natural chakra flowing, what makes anyone think that the Sharingan will be able to see it? This puts the edge over to Naruto in close combat add to the fact that he can use even just three Kage Bunshin is enough as it leaves him invulnerable to a certain extent. And no, this isn't Godlike Naruto, I'm only putting counters against Sasuke's obvious hax abilities.

Anyway, here's to hoping I garner even more reviews in this chapter than the last! Read and Review please, leave a mark!


	3. Earth, Lightning, Wind, Water and Fire

The Hokage's Will

Chapter Three: Earth, Lightning, Wind , Water and Fire

* * *

"_As long as there are leaves in this village, the will of fire shall never die!"_

_-Uzumaki Naruto, Rokudaime Hokage_

Everyone looked on in awe at the person that stood above them, with the hat of the village Kage held in his right hand. Naruto looked below in the same manner that the elder population of Konoha had seen only once from their former Hokages.

Namikaze Minato.

Shikamaru looked on in surprise himself, in a way; it answered the questions why Naruto had gone missing for the past five days, without as much as the ANBU searching for him and his requests from Kakashi that he search for Naruto being denied by the said man, apparently, Kakashi was in on this too, seeing as he was the proxy Hokage, along with Yamato who had supervised the Kumo Nin at the records department.

"So… He's finally fulfilled his dream… It's… Kind of melancholic, huh, Shika?" Ino mentioned as she thought how it must have been painful to label Sasuke as a missing nin.

"First off, don't call me that, second, yeah. I know what must be going through his head right now; he'll put his feelings as a friend aside in order to keep the village safe."

It was then that Naruto began his speech,

"I'm sorry for taking this long to finally get to speak to you; I bet Kakashi-sensei got too bored at the job just within five days of it." He said that with a grin, some of the ninja scowled at Kakashi at that, they were going around in circles two days ago disguised as a mission! And the item often was some crap that wasn't really that important!

Kakashi merely scratched the back of his head and silently laughed, sure it was a sin to be fooling off when the village was in such a state, but come on! The thought of giving Gai a mission that involved a lot of scavenger hunts and fetch me's was hard to pass up!

Okay so he did pass it up, if only because the village had a giant crater in the middle and the reserve genin and chuunin needed exercise! Honest!

"Anyway, I'm sorry again for being late in announcing my ascension to the position. I had some things to take care of. Can you believe it? Me, a genin, not yet even reaching Jounin or even Chuunin, and already, I took the seat, Ibiki-san must be laughing his ass off right now."

Back in the intelligence department, said man was indeed laughing his ass off at the irony of it all.

'_Even if I'm a genin for life, I'll still become Hokage, watch me! I'm not scared of you!'_

Ibiki grinned as he watched perched on the rooftop of the ruined building and letting the new Hokage speak.

"Damn right you did, brat. Guess that's a loss on my part." Ibiki mentioned.

"Oh? It was him all along? I can't wait to… _entertain_ him when he's stressed."

Ibiki stared at his partner and coughed something about being a cradle robber. Anko never was someone who could keep her thoughts to herself. Maybe that was why she was in the torture and interrogation department most of the time. As the things that come out of her mouth often scare the hell out of most men except for him though, Ibiki was the kind of guy that could eat a big piece of meat while watching Anko gut a man during one of her sessions and that was saying something.

"You do know that sixteen would get you twenty, right?" Ibiki mentioned. Anko merely shrugged, hey, a girl can dream can't she?

Back at the tower, Naruto spoke, "I know what it must feel like, loosing everything right now, our home is destroyed, and the works of the people before us vanished without anything left except for destroyed buildings and lives."

Naruto closed his eyes for a moment, balling his right hand into a fist,

"But we're still alive, as long as we are alive, Konoha is still here! We are Konoha! We are the village that makes up the buildings!"

Everyone shouted in agreement.

"We'll get through this! We'll become stronger! We'll bounce right back! We'll kick more asses than the former Konoha did!"

Everyone smiled at that, Hinata merely smiled as she held her hands close to her chest. A blush crossing her cheeks.

"Heh… First time we've got a loudmouth for a Hokage, he's done the impossible, eh Shino?"

Shino nodded with his hands in his pockets and said while looking up, "This is the reason why I would not simply let Akatsuki get him."

The bug user continued, "Why? Because every time one of us is sad, Naruto was there to make us feel better, forcing us to take another step forward by word or by force, Naruto made us into better persons… Do you understand, Kiba? This is his power… Greater than any jutsu, greater than any tailed beast, this is the power that will drive us forward."

Hinata nodded, "Naruto-kun will be… The one to lead us there."

Chouji grinned as his father looked simply in awe, "Naruto, we believe in you… So, make us proud!"

Sakura simply looked at Naruto in melancholy, "Naruto…"

Sai, who had been with Sakura all this time, looked at the cherry blossom girl then back to Naruto, he then said to the girl, "Sakura… I may not understand Naruto and emotions that much… But even I… Can tell just how painful it must be for him to hear the news of Sasuke joining Akatsuki and the choice that he made on what to do."

"But even so I…" Sakura muttered, Sai continued, "It must be hard for Naruto to throw away his heart in order to keep your promise… Sakura, please stop whatever you are doing, you and Sasuke are the cause of his greatest pain."

Sakura could only stare at Naruto biting her lip as tears began to fall. If indeed her actions were the ones to cause him pain, maybe it was time to tell Naruto about Shikamaru's decision as well as the rest.

As Naruto finished his speech, everyone seemed fired up, including the children. With renewed vigour, they went back to repairing the village again. Naruto went to the office, his clones working double time on the paperwork ranging from budgets to status reports.

Grabbing the summarized paperwork, he went out of his office, overseeing the repairs, according to the reports, the village repairs were coming along fine, Yamato had restored some of the amenities down town; most specifically the market and stores to jump start the business district. Naruto raised an eyebrow as the western area of the village had been rather well off; the hot springs were receiving quite a nice batch of customers. Naruto wondered at that, perhaps hearing of Jiraiya's demise somehow made the place trustworthy again.

As he went around town, he overlook at the townspeople on the repairs, who apparently waved at him, with him waving back with a smile, some of the women seemed to squeal however.

Naruto scratched his head at that; did he look _that _ugly that the women would scream like that? Whatever, he needed to go check on the other parts of town before he had to go tonight for that summit. He sighed, his work as Hokage was tiring, there were things to do and decisions to be made.

Walking around the crater, Naruto saw Team Gai in front of him, minus their teacher. Lee was covering his eyes with his right forearm as the new Hokage approached them.

"Hmm? Lee? What's the matter?" The blonde asked

"Naruto-kun! I was absolutely taken by your speech earlier! Your passion has ignited a fire in my spirit! Already you show the sign of being a great leader!"

Tenten shrugged, "Ignore him, blondie, he's just a little emotional after that little speech you gave."

"Tenten, it's not courteous to call the Hokage names, I'm sorry Rokudaime-sama… My team is a little…" Neji apologized and bowed, Naruto seemed to groan at the new title and suffix and title he had just received, he'll never get used to it.

"Ah, pull that stick out of your ass, Neji. This is Naruto we're talking about… He's not THAT particular about courtesy calls." Tenten mentioned, Neji begged to differ however,

"Titles are important Tenten, names are important; they tell that the person is a dignified member of the elite…"

"Actually, I'm not that particular with names like that…" Naruto had cut in; Neji seemed to raise an eyebrow and said,

"That's not acceptable Rokudaime-sama… Remember that you are now in the highest position. As such, you must display your authority as one…"

"I believe that Naruto-kun's denial on title names is a show that states that he may be Hokage, but he is still a human like the rest of us! Kah! Naruto-kun! You're fires of youth shine brighter than any of us!" Lee shouted, tears of joy welling from the bowl cut chuunin.

"Lee, Naruto doesn't want to be called with a title because he's still not used to it, not because he wants to be the same as other people, why'd he accepted to become Hokage in the first place if he just wants to be the same as the people?" Tenten argued,

"This is why he must show that he has an air of benevolence." Neji replied,

The three then began started arguing with each other, Naruto sighed, how did they become a team again? Oh right, dead last plus genius, plus smartest Kunoichi. Naruto really needed to revise THAT formula; the rookies would most likely kill each other before they could take the chuunin exam, Naruto had first hand experience just how disproportionate their team was ever since the bell test, and although they grew up to complement their fighting styles, they fell apart. Sasuke left the village, Naruto was held back and Sakura remained stagnant. Their team dynamics were the worst in their generation, Neji, Lee and Tenten were lucky enough, often they argued with _each other _and had a sensei that wasn't lax in team dynamics. Naruto and Sasuke argued with each other, while Sakura supported Sasuke adding fuel to the fire. Kakashi may have hoped that Sakura would serve the mediator, but it already came too late to realize when Sasuke and Naruto were already at each other's throats almost critically injuring or even killing each other. Naruto thought that Team Seven most likely fell apart when Sasuke watched as he fought off Gaara of the Sand when he was barely able to stop him, that showed his jealousy and inferiority complex that Team Seven didn't know Sasuke had.

"GUYS!" The blonde shouted, earning the attention of the three people arguing in front of him, the three immediately stopped and looked at their Hokage.

"Could we please quit it with the pointless argument for a while? There's a village to rebuild, you know!" Naruto exclaimed, silencing the three and standing up straight and saluted, saying,

"We are terribly sorry, Hokage-sama!"

Naruto dropped his head and sighed,

"Just… Just check on the supplies or something, the reports stated that Spring Country has just sent its aid to us."

Neji had cut him off, "We already did Hokage-sama, and the Princess gave us a letter addressed to you."

The Jounin then handed to him the scroll; Naruto quickly unfurled the scroll and read it.

Naruto flushed about halfway through.

Apparently Koyuki had a dirty mouth about… Things that Jiraiya would seemingly giggle and enjoy, and said… Things were directed at him. Now it being a letter, Naruto couldn't really tell if she was teasing or not. That and the fact that she said she never knew that Naruto was such a big fan of the Icha Icha series. Sure, he _read_ the books a few times, but he didn't really found it enjoyable as Kakashi had. Though from Koyuki's letter, it sounded like he was.

Naruto had inkling as to who sent the letter and revised it. He made the letter the night he was about to leave, giving it to Kakashi to proofread and edit if ever he had said some awkward words to the head of state of Spring Country. Said Jounin gave a simple nod and said to leave all of that diplomat letter bullshit to him.

Naruto right now, was sweating bullets as his face was flushing.

"I need to have a word with Kakashi for this…" Naruto said, unfurling the scroll further and found a storage seal. Massaging his temples, Naruto thought that he needed to teach Kakashi a lesson in suddenly putting him in a precarious situation that the Jounin would have terribly enjoyed.

"Oh for the love of…"

Unsealing the storage scroll, he saw a signed copy of the Icha Icha movie that Kakashi had been clamouring about three years ago. Naruto sighed… Yep, looks like he'll be taking a detour to Kakashi, if he ever finds the man that is.

"I swear he's like an endangered species or something." Naruto said stalking away from Team Gai who had then argued again as they walked off.

Naruto then flipped the clip board to oversee any other structures that needed repairing, the paper next to his list was the hospital, there were still a lot of injured people in the infirmary and with the hospital staff being deployed to the make shift tents for the injured and first aid to the people that got injured in reconstructing. There he met Inari and Tazuna who had arrived earlier, discussing about what had happened here and how he became Hokage. Some of the men and women were looking at them strangely, but mostly out of curiosity as to how Naruto befriended two foreigners and how close they were to their Hokage. Apparently, Tazuna was there because of a hangover and Inari was there to guard his drunkard of a grandfather. They parted ways when Naruto had to go check the medical supplies and then recieve the parchments for the approval of more aid.

Naruto went through and talked to the Hospital Director about the received Medical Supplies. The director nodded and showed him crates and crates of medical supplies and equipment and stamped the approval of more incoming supplies from their allied countries, Spring was generous enough to offer a large amount of it. Checking the crates, he then said to the hospital director to take charge of any more supplies coming their way and that he should conserve them as much as possible. Nodding, Naruto thought it was time to visit the old lady, still in her coma.

Coming in to the tent, Naruto greeted Sakura and Shizune. Sakura merely looked sullen and continued her job.

"How's baa-chan?" Naruto asked as he kneeled beside wrinkle faced Tsunade.

"She… Hasn't woken up yet but her vitals are normal… We're still trying our best in waking her up." Shizune said, Naruto mellowed down as she leaned to Tsunade and bowed,

"I'm sorry I didn't make it in time!" Naruto shouted to the unresponsive elder woman, Shizune and Sakura only looked at Naruto as he talked, holding his head and letting his tears fall. He cursed his inability to not make it in time, he cursed Danzo for the fate of Tsunade, he cursed the situation for not being able to do anything against the war hawk. Being the commander of Root, it took a sizeable amount of the Konoha Military force. Simply reprimanding the man was far too risky even for him.

"First Ero-sennin, not you too… I'm sorry for yelling at you when Ero-sennin died! I'm sorry for not making it in time! I'm sorry for calling you baa-chan! I'm sorry for being a brat! I'm sorry for asking so much from you! I'm sorry I failed to protect Konoha!"

Naruto continued to bawl out his emotions as he continued to cry, hiding his eyes with his right forearm, indeed, despite the fact that Konoha had all of its villagers and shinobi alive; it didn't take away the fact that Konoha was destroyed. Konoha was decimated, in a matter of seconds. Seconds that could have been prevented if he arrived earlier.

Sakura merely watched as Naruto continued to cry, Naruto was mortified of himself.

It was then that Sakura saw Naruto fall apart in front of her master. For Naruto, he considered Tsunade grandmother, even a mother at times. For him to suddenly fall apart in front of her was forcing her to cry as well, she bit her lip as Naruto cried.

"Naruto! This isn't how a Hokage should behave!" Sakura shouted as she too, cried. It was hard enough seeing Tsunade like this, but seeing Naruto fall apart like that as well was far too horrible for her.

"What do you know!? Did you force yourself to make the decision regarding Sasuke!? For the village? For the men that I may have stopped from sending them to war just because of him!? I'm forced to label him as a missing nin! Even if I'm the Hokage, I couldn't do anything! I shouldn't even be here talking to you! Because it would just hurt you more to know that it was me who did this!" Naruto shouted at his teammate. Not looking at Sakura. Sakura was silent, so he did know about Sasuke…

"Naruto! That's enough! Don't keep your promise anymore!" Sakura literally shouted, she hated being so useless in this mess, so useless to Team Seven.

Naruto didn't speak as he stood up and got out.

"Please Naruto… Don't hurt yourself because of us…" Sakura mentioned, as she cried.

Naruto bit his lip as he balled his hands to fists, shaking. "I didn't become Hokage because I want to sacrifice my ideals like that. I became Hokage because I wanted to protect anyone that I can. I became Hokage because I knew it was the best way to deal with everything. I became Hokage so I could lead the people the right way and prevent anymore tragedies that cross my way."

Naruto only exited he didn't face Sakura with Naruto only saying, "I'm going to beat him down to the ground this time… I'll be the one to pound the sense in him."

"I've had enough… As the Hokage, I'm going to do what's right for my people." Naruto only mentioned as he went to his office.

As Naruto went away, Sakura was reminded of Sai's words.

'_Sakura, please stop whatever you are doing, you and Sasuke are the cause of his greatest pain.'_

Sakura was left contemplating those words… In the end, she couldn't say to Naruto what she had wanted to say from Shikamaru… There was no need. Naruto had already decided.

Hokage's office:

The events played out earlier had left Naruto mentally and physically exhausted. He never felt so drained by what happened earlier, to him, being Hokage was still an emotional roller coaster. As he looked out in front of him, his clones were frantically squirming in his office, carrying paperwork and discussing more of the needed work to be done. He glanced at his wall clock and noticed that it was nearing four in the afternoon. He stood from his seat, and the clones quickly began stacking the paperwork around, and vanished as Naruto ordered them to disperse.

It was time.

Calling for one of his messengers, he motioned for them to go look for Hatake Kakashi and Maito Gai.

In anticipation for the summit, Naruto looked over his backpack and then to the pictures of the former Hokages. With a firm resolve, he hefted the bag to his back along with the Hokage's hat and stood in front of his desk as Gai and Kakashi appeared thirty minutes later with their backpacks and cloaks for the cold weather in Iron Country. Naruto then said to the two,

"I hope both of you are prepared for what might happen at the Kage summit."

Kakashi stepped forward and said, "The Kage summit… Is an event that even Akatsuki can't ignore… They would most likely try to move and disrupt the meeting and in the process, at least kill one of them."

Gai said without hesitation in his voice, "I am prepared to face them Hokage-sama… We will defeat them without any hesitation."

Naruto nodded to both and said, "I chose the two of you because you are the best Jounins that came to mind. I'm sorry for calling on such short notice."

With a nod from both Jounin, Naruto and his two escorts vacated the premises of the Hokage's office.

As they went out, going to the northern gate towards Iron Country, he stopped when he suddenly turned around, the villagers and ninja alike were going with him, about to see him off. All of them lined up from left to right, shinobi and civilian, seeing him off.

"Take care, Hokage-sama…"

"Please be careful."

"Come back safe!"

"Gai-san, Kakashi-san, please guard him well."

Naruto smiled and raised his right hand above his head into a fist, signifying his affirmation.

Kakashi replied his orange book still in his hand, "Mah, we'll be fine."

Gai nodded, "Hokage-sama is important so we won't let anything happen to him."

As they walked off, Naruto who had lead the team, couldn't help but smile and a trickle of tear fell from his right cheek.

'_A Hokage… Must be strong in front of his people… Like a rock meeting the tides of fate and uncertainty on the shore, he must never waver. Is it your dream, Naruto-kun? to become Hokage?'_

Naruto remembered those words from the wise Sandaime, as he turned back and took one last look at the Hokage Mountain, his face still not carved on it.

"Don't worry; I won't let anything wrong happen. But just in case, watch over this village"

* * *

Wind Country, Sunagakure no Sato:

Gaara looked up, the desert wind caressing his face, as he looked back to his people who were there to see him off. Young and old, men and women. His people...

"Please take care of yourself, Gaara-sama…"

"Temari-san, Kankurou-san, please take good care of Kazekage-sama."

Temari waved her hand to the townspeople flapping her cloak as she said, "We will."

Kankurou however, rolled his eyes and said, "Not like he needs bodyguards anyway."

Gaara simply said, "Courtesy call Kankurou, you know how much tension can escalate on the wrong words alone."

"Whatever, I bet you're the only Kage there who doesn't look like a dried prune." Replied his brother.

"Say that to their faces and we might have a war on our hands, baka. And I'll call your bet for a hundred ryo." Said Temari casually grabbing a canteen of water and gulping a little off the bottle. She didn't know why she did that, as she knew that it was such a stupid bet, but somehow seeing Kankurou lose a bet from impossible odds, and seeing him eat her shoe like a damn goat? She was sold on this bet!

"You're on! Looser has to eat the other's shoe!" Kankurou pointed to his sister, smirking at the gamble, he had this in the bag!

* * *

Lightning Country, Kumogakure no Sato:

"Alright, everything's set… Let's do this! Shi! Darui!" Said the Raikage, slapping himself with both his hands and jumped through the glass stained window…

Shi stood up from kneeling and said, "Not again… Hey, how much do you think the property damage that the Raikage will have to pay now?"

The blonde sighed, as Darui scratched the back of his head and looked up, thinking of something.

"Well considering how fired up he is and where we are going, I'd probably say about a hundred thousand ryo."

Shi then approached the broken window and said, "So, you coming?"

Darui shook his head, "Nah, too much hassle, I'll use the stairs instead. It's safer for me and my wallet."

Shi shrugged.

"My fruit stand!"

"I'm sorry, I'll pay for it!"

The yells outside made Shi sweat drop and said to his friend who was smirking, "Yeah, I see your point; I think I'll use the stairs too."

"My ceramics!"

"I'm sorry! I'll pay for it!"

Shi and Darui immediately scrambled down and meet up with the Raikage before the village funds could be drained from the Raikage's rampage throughout Kumo _alone_.

* * *

Earth Country, Iwagakure no Sato:

"Akazuchi! Kurozuchi! Please take good care of Tsuchikage-sama!"

"Show them what you got!"

The short old man sighed and cradled his aching hip.

"Ah, it's troublesome for someone my age to go to meeting that far." The man said leaning against his wooden bag.

"You youngsters don't understand how your hip becomes a virtual time bomb!"

The female of the group, wearing the standard uniform of Iwa Jounin replied, "Why don't retire you then gramps? You can't really rely on your former glory forever."

The biggest of the three, a plump man towering over the two, gave a laugh and leaned down while laughing,

"I'll carry your luggage of your shoulders, Tsuchikage-sama."

The old man lashed out at the man and ever the stubborn old crone shouted, "Don't touch, Akazuchi! I don't need your help!"

The old man then placed the saddles to his shoulders and lifted but…

A loud sickening crack was heard that both escorts flinched at and then…

Pain!

SWEET MOTHER, THE PAIN! The aching, throbbing, grinding and excruciating PAIN!

"OOOOOOOOHHHH! My hips!" The old man shouted in agony shaking from the sudden gush of unpleasant nerves signalling he sit this one out. But what remained him standing on his feet and preventing him to fall down was his pride as the Tsuchikage.

Kurozuchi, trying hard to contain her laughter, said to the old man, "So, does that mean, you'll send someone in your place?"

The old man replied in the midst of his groans, "What are you saying!? I'm the Tsuchikage! Fearsome leader of Iwagakure! I'll carry my own luggage!"

Kurozuchi sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose, "Stubborn old goat."

Akazuchi then lifted the old man and his luggage and then said, "Alright, carry your own luggage then, let's go!"

The old man couldn't really deny that request, besides; a free ride is all that this old man needs to ease the pain on his back!

* * *

Water Country, Kirigakure no Sato:

"Now please take good care of yourself." An old man then handed the hat of the Mizukage to the rightful wearer. The man's hand wavering and shaking due to his Parkinson's. The others were simply amazed of this man's dedication to the village.

"Don't let anything go wrong." The old man continued Holding the snake ornamented staff that he held.

The Mizukage replied, holding the hat on her hand and said, "I swear in my honour as Mizukage, I will fulfil my duty in the best of my ability."

The old man then turned to her escorts, "Ao, Choujuro, please guard Mizukage-dono well."

"I-I won't fail… Probably." Said the boy holding a very large sword the shape of a dried fish on his back, adjusting his glasses, the elder replied,

"Don't be so humble, Choujuro, you're strong, you're a member of the seven!"

"That why, you were chosen to guard me, ok Choujuro?" The Mizukage squatted on the boy's eye level and smiled, Choujuro blushed and nodded with a smile.

"Bah, you kids today… Why can't you just say 'Yes, ma'am!'? We don't need you spouting on about, 'I'll do my best!' be a man, Choujuro! Grow a damn spine!" Ao exclaimed

The Mizukage fell silent at that as the older man ranted about his generation and then Choujuro's generation.

The Mizukage suddenly had that urge to behead the spouting old goat for reminding her that she needed a man in her life since she's almost half past the prime age of marriage.

"Shut up Ao or I'll kill you!" She said that with venom laced in her voice

Ao looked puzzled at that and remained silent wondering what had gotten in the head of their leader. What the hell did he do? It wasn't like he was suggesting that the Mizukage was never going to marry! Honestly, she rushes this marriage thing way too much, there were countless men after her heart she just needs to take the time NOT being Mizukage and walk from that office of hers! This was why this generation was such a failure, why can't they use their own feet and eyes and be absolutely sure about what they were thinking!?

The Mizukage could feel the cold wind as she walked by with her escorts, wishing she had a man on her side right now. Oh, the woes of being single woman! Isn't any man interested in her!? With a dejected sigh, the Mizukage walked with her escorts slouching down in depression. She had hoped at least, that she might find someone in Iron Country that will likely sweep her off her feet!

* * *

In Fire Country:

"ACHOO!"

Naruto sneezed and sniffed, a sudden chill just crawled down his spine.

"Brrr… It's not yet even Iron country and I'm already shivering, I think I might be coming down with something."

Kakashi merely said, "Nah, you don't get sick because of your tenant. Must be the air here, this area IS very humid."

"Yosh! If Hokage-sama is cold, then I will use my chest and warm him with a most youthful embrace! Come Hokage-sama; come feel the manly chest of Maito Gai!" The said man then gave a nice guy pose, complete sparkling teeth

Naruto merely shivered at the prospect and said, "No thanks, I'm already fine. Just… Be ten steps away from me… Please…"

Kakashi merely chuckled under his mask, thank God for it, his uncovered eye looked unflinching, ah the wonders of being a multi-talented person.

It was then that Kakashi stopped in walking, stretching his hand slightly, Naruto stopped as well, looking to his upper right, as did Gai. Naruto didn't flinch.

"We're being watched." Kakashi mentioned, Naruto nodded as did Gai,

"Hokage-sama, I suggest you remain in your place, we'll take care of them for you."

Naruto remained silent, slowly inching his hand towards the horizontally strapped Fuuma Shuriken strapped at the back of his waist.

Naruto wondered who these people might be, Kakashi flicked his hand is quick as lightning, letting loose three shuriken.

In a blink of an eye, eleven people, jumped straight at them. All of them bearing the symbol of the Hanya clan. Kakashi was about to dash towards an opponent, Naruto motioned for him to stop as they threw shuriken and kunai in countless directions.

"I'll handle this." Naruto said, as he grabbed the folded Fuuma Shuriken from the back of his waist and flipped it in mid-air, catching it by the handle with his left hand.

"Fuuma Shuriken: Windmill Mode!"

The Fuuma gave a resounding click, as the blades separated and spun wildly. Naruto out stretched his hand and deflected the thrown weapons sent at him. Placing chakra on his feet, Naruto jumped and switched the Fuuma Shuriken with his right hand.

"Fuuma Shuriken: Blade mode!"

Another loud clicking sound was heard, the Fuuma Shuriken immediately stopped and retracted to its blade form, deflecting the sword strike aimed above his head, Naruto bent his lower body forward and kicked the man by the abdomen.

The kick forced the wind out of the man as he fell down on the ground with the blonde hitting the man with the blunt part of Shuriken at the back of his neck. As he landed upside down on a tree branch, the blonde had put his hands together in a middle index cross,

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu! (Shadow Clone Technique)" Naruto shouted, and soon, five clones popped around the blonde, lunging at the men in every which way they appeared. Naruto then leaned his body forward grabbing the tree branch that he stood, used the arm strength of his left hand to lift his body upward and kicked the branch, jumping straight up.

One of his clones dashed towards his opponent, Fuuma Shuriken drawn, the clone evaded a horizontal sword slash by doing a baseball slide. Once the clone had gotten past the swipe, it used the blunt part of the Fuuma Shuriken and rammed it straight to the man's knee, crippling him. As the man fell, the clone grabbed the sword by the hilt and stabbed it down on the ground. The man fell down as the clone chopped the back of his neck.

"Who are you people!? Why are you after me!?" The blonde shouted. One of the men said,

"Don't feign your innocence, scum! How many more blood of innocents will you spill in order to get what you want!? We, the Hanya clan of Wood Country shall avenge the deaths of our clansmen!"

A clone had quickly caught the blade swipe sent at him. The clone blocked it with his Fuuma Shuriken as he then slid the flat part on the sword, quickly hitting the man by the throat. The man gasped for air, as the blunt part of the folded shuriken was jammed to his neck. Making him step back and stumble down.

"Damn you… Danzo!" He said between gasps, the clone's eyes widened.

"I'm not Danzo, I am Uzumaki Naruto! Naruto! Don't mistake me for that old crone!" Naruto shouted as another clone flipped in midair, punching the man by the gut, hitting the solar plexus.

The man gasped for air as he fell down, knocked out.

"Are you not the Hokage!? Then you must be Danzo!" One of the remaining men said. Naruto shouted, "The Hokage isn't that mad man, I'm the Hokage!"

Naruto shouted as he dodged a blow that would have decapitated him. As he outstretched his right foot and gave sweeping kick, the man lost balance, as Naruto shouted,

"Fuuma Shuriken: Windmill Mode!" Naruto said as he flung the spinning projectile straight to one of his attackers, impaling the man on the shoulders and pinning him to one of the trees. Naruto then flipped the sword away from the man as he blocked a sword straight at his face catching it with his bare hands. Naruto then asked, "Why are you still attacking me!?"

"Silence! Die, scum!"

With that two people came at him drawing their hands together and intricately woven their seals together. "Katon: Endan! (Fire Release: Fire Bullet)"

"Fuuton: Reppusho! (Wind release: violent gale palm)"

Cursing under his breath, Naruto dodged to the side, bringing out two kunai and flinging it towards the two men. As he ran for cover. The combined Jutsu razed and incinerated anything in its path.

The men were parried the flung projectiles with their swords. But was surprised when the kunai had burst into smoke.

Kakashi seemed surprised at this.

'_He let two Kage Bunshin perform Henge and turn into Kunai? Since when…'_

It suddenly hit him, when Naruto had summoned his shadow clones, he was surrounded with them from all sides earlier; the clones couldn't have been noticed since the smoke had surrounded the blonde.

"Hokage-sama thinks two steps ahead of his opponent." Gai commented and Kakashi nodded.

Just then, Naruto emerged from the smoke, dragging two unconscious men by the collar.

The one impaled on the tree was about to extract the offending weapon from his shoulder, but Naruto stopped him by pressing his hand on his uninjured shoulder and said, "Don't move. You'll just open your wound further."

"Just kill me now! You think that we'll quit just because you left us to live?" Said the man, Naruto didn't move as he stared at the man that was glaring daggers at the man.

"No, I don't… But I don't want the people that you love to come after me either." Naruto said, the man froze but snarled at Naruto, "I've already lost my family from Konoha! Letting me live is only a hindrance!"

"DON'T YOU WANT TO LIVE!?" Naruto had cut off.

"DON'T SAY THAT YOU'D PREFER TO DIE JUST BECAUSE YOU FAILED AT SOMETHING!"

Naruto said; his anger seething as he punched the stump behind the man.

"You think this is supposed to make you feel better!? You think having an eye for an eye is the proper way to solve things!? You aren't God to decide to end the life of people that barely even know you!"

The man, rose defiantly and seethed at the young Hokage "You say that your people are innocent! Don't you dare play as the unsung hero in this! It's Konoha's fault that my wife and children are dead! All because of Danzo!" The man retaliated, Naruto replied as he held the man by the collar,

"And you're going to do the same thing as he did!? Killing innocent people left and right? Did you ever think just for a moment that you were probably on the same level as him? What was it, again? _Scum!?_"

The man stopped; his grip on Naruto's hand loosening, as Naruto continued, "If you want to be another Danzo then I won't hesitate to kill you, that way, I'll have stopped an evil worse than mine!"

"Then why don't you kill me?" This time, the man's voice was an audible whisper.

Naruto replied, "I'm giving you a choice. Do you want to live and search for a brighter future? Or seek revenge and die a miserable death?"

This time, Naruto's free hand was holding a kunai; a sudden surge of information entered his mind, telling him that the remaining three members were incapacitated.

The man never thought something like this would happen, he had thought that he was prepared for death, prepared to face Danzo to his doom as he swung his sword, but this person stopped him, made him realize just how foolish it was to throw his life away, his reply was an audible whisper, Naruto said, "What's that? I can't hear you! Speak up!"

"I said, I want to live!" The man shouted as he cried in his answer. His wife… His children… They were never going to come back… The times where his nightmares had plagued him every night, eased only by the liquor that had been his company and his remaining clansmen. They were all that he had left, and if they die, that verge of sanity in him will vanish like a flickering match, for he will have nothing left, not even alcohol can douse that pain.

As Naruto had retracted the Fuuma Shuriken from the man's shoulder, the throwing star returned to its folded form and Naruto wiped the blood away. Satisfied with the man's answer, he knew, shinobi may have been trained to kill and to treat death as normal as possible. But the fear of death was still there, it still lingers in the heart of all, even shinobi, trained and dedicated his life in that field for years, fear death.

The man sat on the ground, as he cried and cried out. Holding his head with Naruto turning his back on the man, walking away.

"Hokage-sama… We should…"

"Its fine, Gai-sensei, leave them… They've learned their lesson." Naruto said as they walked away. Gai was surprised by Naruto's decision to leave them be. Kakashi wasn't however.

"This is the Hokage that had trained under Jiraiya, Gai. Have you ever seen such a boy that could do that to his enemy?"

"I've only heard rumours but… This is the first time I saw him do it. It's as if Kami himself willed inside him…" Gai was astonished to say the least never had he seen someone as unique as Uzumaki Naruto. Jiraiya-sama had stated once that he treated the lives of every human being as precious; he would often light candles when he got home to pray for the souls that he had tragically ended. Naruto was the opposite of that when he was a child, to Naruto, what was most important to him back then was his existence, acknowledgement. Desperation often lingered in Naruto's mind as a child, he looked on in the village with a mere complacent and hated expression, he wasn't opposed to killing back then. Kakashi knew that his first and only kill was Sasori's spy, Yura, who Naruto had driven his Oodama Rasengan (Great Ball Spiralling Sphere) at the said man's chest, tearing blood vessels and cardiac muscles apart. And although Naruto had ended his training with Jiraiya back then, Kakashi saw Naruto's expression as that of regret when they had camped the night before they saw Gaara.

Kakashi had wondered how much change Jiraiya influenced on the boy and the boy to Jiraiya.

"Oh yeah, Kakashi-sensei, I have to talk to you about something. I don't appreciate it when you revise my whole letter to the Princess of Spring country and chucking in a copy of the movie of Icha Icha Paradise to be signed." Naruto mentioned looking at his sensei with a scowl on his face, forcing Kakashi out of his reverie.

"Mah, don't make a big deal about it, Naruto. And thanks for letting her sign my copy!" Kakashi said kissing the movie copy of his favourite series and placing it back in his pouch.

"You know what just happened!? Koyuki sent me a letter and talked dirty to me! And since it was a letter, I didn't know if she was teasing or if it was the real deal! You just opened a can of worms in front of my face sensei! The worst part is you made it with _MY _seal of authentication!" Naruto answered.

"You worry too much, Naruto. For one thing, if she ever did those acts to you, she'll be labelled a cradle robber. Of course most of the female population older than eighteen in Konoha already consider you jailbait now."

Naruto stood agape at that, WHAT!? Then that means all those girls squealing at him earlier were…

Kakashi chuckled under his mask and said raising the pitch of his voice, mimicking a female's, "'Oh, Naruto-sama was so cool back there!' 'He's so sexy!' 'Would he father my babies?' Or so I've heard."

"Ah… Ah… Ah…" Naruto could only say, not finding his voice to speak in the matter,

"I think you just broke him, Kakashi." Said Gai. Kakashi chuckled further,

"Oh come on, it's as if Jiraiya-sama never taught you anything about women."

Naruto, finding his voice to speak again, "There wasn't anything to learn but to view women's anatomy while staying hidden before they kick the crap out of you."

Naruro shivered as he ran down memory lane, the misadventures with the Toad Sage were memorable on his part. Mostly because he had more than once ran away fearing for his life from the crowd of women that were carrying weapons sharp enough and threatening them to get them "fixed". Jiraiya had stated once that he'll get used to the challenge eventually as it could also serve his training in speed and stealth. The fact that Naruto could run so fast was partially thanks to Jiraiya, and partially to Tsunade, who had been Jiraiya's inspiration when they were kids to get the hell out of dodge when the time called for it.

As they spoke often with Kakashi's amused tone, Naruto's embarassment and Gai's outbursts, they got closer and closer to Iron Country. Snow began to fall gently on the ground. Naruto and the rest saw the giant gaping maw that ran on three different directions. The landmark seemed intimidating as well.

"Naruto?"

Naruto turned around finding the source of the voice.

Naruto saw it was Gaara.

"What are you doing here?" The red head asked,

Naruto grinned at that, grabbing the red quadrilateral hat from his back, he placed it on his head and asked, "That answer your question?"

Gaara seemed to smile at this, Kankurou and Temari looked astonished, Kankurou more so.

"I suppose it does." Gaara mentioned with a smile. Indeed it was a surprise to see Naruto become Hokage so soon; he had heard reports that Konoha was invaded by Akatsuki's apparent leader, Pein. What was surprising though, was the fact that Naruto was the one to legitimately take the seat. He had heard bad rumours of the Hokage being a man that had ruled the Black Ops of the village, notorious for numerous secret deals and genocides outside of Konoha. Seeing Naruto becoming Hokage had put Gaara's mind at ease and dispels such rumours going abound in the Ninja World.

Naruto commented, "Wow Gaara, you grew your hair a little."

"Yes, the works of being a Kage can be quite bothersome. That and I supposed it looked fitting for me." Gaara commented. Naruto merely rolled his eyes.

"There must be some mistake, there has to be!" Kankurou shouted, all the while Temari was smirking at her brother, oh yeah she always did love being right!

"Oh, there isn't one, _dear brother._ Do you really think Kakashi-san would be Hokage if he didn't carry the hat?" Temari asked, sneering at her brother who was grumbling as he rummaged to his wallet and handed over a Hundred Ryo bill.

"What's going on?" Asked Kakashi, curious at the banter between the sand siblings.

"Temari and Kankurou had a bet to see if there was a Kage close to my age. Temari won." Gaara simply mentioned.

"Ah, a simple game of luck eh? Then my bet to you Rival Kakashi; is that there is a woman for a Kage who is nearing middle age and is concerned about not finding the proper husband!" Gai exclaimed, Kakashi already on autopilot said, "Hm? You say something Gai?"

"KAH! Kakashi, you and your hip ways always manage to get on my nerves! That is why you are my eternal rival!" Gai shouted

The wind blew, the people were already moving ahead. Gai's head bowed as he could feel that he was ignored with his speech.

Gai soon dashed back again to the group that had ignored his speech and saw that Kankurou was chewing something, Temari asked while laughing wearing a new pair of shoes and holding her sides due to her fits of laughter.

"So how's the shoe, Kankurou?"

Kankurou replied in a deadpan voice in the middle of his chewing, "Like athlete's foot."

That earned him a kick in the shin.

To be continued…

* * *

And, the final draft has been placed. Took me a while to finish this, had a lot to do this weekend and had been renewing legal documents left and right. Thanks to Rokudaime116 for being my BETA reader.


	4. Intertwine

The Hokage's Will

Chapter Four: Intertwine

* * *

The cold winter climate of Iron Country was a desert in reverse form. There may be trees, but there were barely any leaves in them, the fauna do not fare good as well, with a few species only existing in the harsh winter climate. In particular, only in Iron Country did exist an elusive bird known for its grace within the harsh frozen land; its name was the Snow Owl.

The said creature flapped its wings during mid day, an hour it wasn't supposed to fly, as it only flew during the night. The said bird landed on the forearm of a rather large man with orange hair. It nestled closely to the man as the man then said to Sasuke.

"There's a path in the west that's barely guarded." Said Juugo, Sasuke nodded,

"Good we're moving. Karin, detect Danzo for us."

The Uchiha commanded, Karin seemed afraid of this however,

"H-Hey! I'm coming as well!?" Asked the red head, Sasuke merely replied, "You're ability is required the most at this moment."

Sasuke then said to the half man-half plant.

"Zetsu, was it? You will tell me how Danzo looks like. Don't lie to me."

Zetsu merely smiled as he walked and said to Sasuke, "Don't worry, I won't. Danzo is not an ally of ours."

Sasuke looked up at the place named, The Three Wolves' Fanged Maw, he scowled at the said structure. Soon, Danzo with feel the taste of his blade being driven to his gut! That man shall pay for his crimes.

As Sasuke and the others infiltrated the pyramid like structure situating in the middle of the Wolves' Fanged Maw, Zetsu looked around the area that will be the meeting place of the Five Kages. His single present gazed back and forth from the outer area to the middle.

"This is disturbing, I don't see Danzo anywhere." Zetsu mentioned. Sasuke was getting impatient; his anger was rising at the man that had escorted them in the summit.

"_What_? Are you telling me that Danzo isn't here?" Sasuke bellowed at Zetsu, his killing intent was starting to leak from him as he stared at Zetsu who was starting to panic. If indeed that Danzo wasn't the Hokage, it meant that the disruption of the Five Kages' summit would lead to nowhere as Madara had implied that Sasuke was now the important factor in revealing 'Tsuki no Me'. But in order to do that, Sasuke would have to be conditioned to a level that will put him in the same category as his brother, Uchiha Itachi. Madara had specifically ordered Zetsu to monitor the boy's growth, for Sasuke would be facing the Senju clan's representative, Uzumaki Naruto.

His patience wearing thin, Sasuke was about to go away when he had heard that the Hokage had finally come. Staring down, he couldn't very well see the person's face for it was being covered by the hat.

Land of Iron, outer walls:

"Torune, be prepared to be on stand by, we will commence our operation before the Summit ends." Danzo mentioned, as he sat down in the hotel, and watched the Three Wolves' Fanged Maw as snow fell at an unbelievable rate.

Danzo knew that the Kage Summit was a movement that the Akatsuki couldn't very well ignore. But he also knew another factor in that summit, with the way things are going and Akatsuki finally capturing eight of the tailed beasts, the five great villages will have to get aggressive and retrieve the bijuu by forming an alliance, and being that Konoha is the only village that hasn't lost its host yet, they would definitely put the Hokage as the head of the alliance, the absolute leader.

Danzo scoffed, picturing the young Hokage leading the alliance.

"The alliance would most likely fall apart if he leads." Danzo muttered, that was why, he had set up a strategy that would allow him leeway for the Hokage to surrender his position to him.

Danzo's showed a glint that wasn't present before, a small smile crept upon his wrinkled face.

Summit venue:

The Hokage had removed his hat, revealing a spiky blonde that looked no older than the Kazekage as one of the people supervising greeted him.

"I am glad that you could make it, Hokage-dono." Mentioned the man, the blonde nodded, the remaining people inside of the building looked at the boy that stood in the middle holding the hat of the Hokage. The rest were surprised however, they had thought that the Hokage would either be the busty blonde Tsunade, the long white haired Toad Sage, Jiraiya or the elusive and shady Danzo. The Raikage walked closer and stood towering over the new Hokage who had stared it him intently as well; the hat with the symbol of lightning gave away the man's position to Naruto.

"Can I help you, Raikage?" Naruto asked, without the suffix of 'dono' to state his disrespectful attitude staring up at the Raikage. The Raikage merely glared at the boy,

"For Konoha's sake, you better speak your mind boy." The Raikage merely said, as he walked away, Naruto didn't look intimidated.

"Oh my, I never thought that the Hokage would be one so young and so… _Good looking._"

Naruto if ever he was intimidated by the towering Raikage somehow jumped in surprise at the voice that had been said from behind. Looking at his back he saw a very beautiful woman, long red locks covered her right eye and wearing a dress that barely hid her very smooth skin on her shoulders and chest.

She held the aqua blue hat that had the symbol of water.

"My, aren't you the cute Kage. Is your father the Legendary Yellow flash? I heard he was such a cutie as well!" The Mizukage mentioned, hands on her mouth covering her mouth in astonishment. Naruto held up his hands and had motioned for the Mizukage to step back for she was too close for his own comfort. What were the sizes of those again? A B-cup? Naruto mentally shook his head at the suggestive images entering his mind all of a sudden.

Seriously, what was it with women and men of power? Naruto mentally asked himself, _'Why does this remind me of what Anko did to me during the Chuunin Exam!? And why is that kid with the glasses staring at me like he's boring holes through my head?'_

If Gai were to initiate that bet earlier, no matter how absurd it was; he would have won as he had hit it right on the money when the woman had ranted just how much she was desperate for a husband.

Up above, Sasuke looked down seeing Naruto as being the Kage, and had thought of an idea.

"Sasuke, so does this mean we will now abandon the idea of assaulting the place?" Karin asked, Sasuke shook his head and said this time, with a smirk,

"Someone with Konoha's affiliation must know where Danzo and the elders normally reside within Konoha, and I happen to personally know the Hokage."

"The Kyuubi Jinchuuriki is here? Someone leaked false information from Konoha!"

Zetsu mentioned, fearing for the worst. He had seen the fight between Pein and the Nine Tailed Host. Even though Sasuke had the advantage of the Sharingan, if Naruto had the ability to attack on all sides, the Sharingan would pretty much be useless. Add to the fact that the blonde's abilities further improved since last time and destroyed the five out of six paths of Pein at the start, the nine tailed host is a dangerous opponent to mess with. Perhaps this was a miscalculation on his part; however, Madara had made it a priority that Sasuke awaken Susanoo here. But if Sasuke were to die, then it would be pointless anyway.

Zetsu seethed his pride as an excellent spy was outclassed suddenly. He had double checked the leaf village, but even then, the info he had gotten was scarce, it only made him cringe as to what Madara would do. Sasuke on the other hand, remained silent, intent on watching the blonde that was interacting with his escorts, Kakashi and Gai, another pair of familiar faces.

"You mean to tell us that is Naruto? Now this is an interesting turn of events… If that guy managed to defeat Pein, then he might cause us a lot of trouble." Suigetsu mentioned, but Sasuke remained calm.

"We are facing Kage level shinobi, Suigetsu, facing Naruto or any of the other Kages should have reached to your mind that we are going to fight monsters." Sasuke mentioned in a matter of fact tone, Suigetsu could feel himself hyperventilating; this was something he knew that he'd face. But for some reason when that person named Naruto defeated Madara's most powerful minion, he was having second thoughts. From the stories he heard from other people, the members of Akatsuki were all S-Class shinobi. Shinobi that were near or were at Kage level; not that he was discrediting Sasuke, but the fact they were facing five people that had the potential to kill any S-class missing nin, it was suicidal! Sasuke may be A to S class, but these were mid to high S-class ninjas that meant business!

He just hoped that he and his team would survive this, except for Karin, Suigetsu didn't like her. She can convulse to death for all he cares. In fact he hated her, the reason he hasn't tried to kill the shrieking bitch was the fact that Sasuke wouldn't like it.

Juugo… Well… As long as Sasuke could control his urges then he can live. Not much more was to be said.

Below, the meeting was about to take place, as each of the delegations from Konoha, Suna, Iwa, Kumo and Kiri sat in front of the Kanji that signify each of their villages. A person then sat in a separate table from them, his head supported by a wrap of bandages and his long flowing black hair covering his back.

"Good day, I am Mifune, the leader of the Land of Iron, I will represent as the mediator of this meeting."

As the Five Kages sat, Mifune mentioned for them to place their hats on the table, as all the Kages did so.

Naruto looked around him, finding himself in the centre of the meeting; to his back was a curtain with the character of Fire written. Further his back was Kakashi and Gai. To his far right was the Mizukage, who was eyeing him, making Naruto pull his collar and gulp in nervousness. Next to the Mizukage to his near right was the Kazekage, Gaara. To his near left was the Tsuchikage, who looked like he had a bad tumour on his nose and to his far left was the Raikage, whose build could intimidate anyone in the room if they were not on the same level as him.

To his front, there sat the mediator, Mifune. The said man then said, "Now we commence that the start of the summit."

The Tsuchikage was eyeing Naruto closely and could feel himself having cold sweat. The Hokage's appearance was unbelievable! Many would consider that face in Iwa as the face of the devil that had orders to carry out to utterly eliminate them, the butcher of Iwa, the only ninja in history to have a flee-on-sight order if seen on the battlefield, The Yellow Flash!

"Very well, I'll start."

To this, the eldest of the Kages turned his head towards the Kazekage. Who spoke as his hands covered his mouth. Naruto merely sat, his arms on the arm chair as he watched the young Kage speak

"This Kage meeting is already pointless in my opinion. Eight of the Tailed beasts had already been captured; Akatsuki has already amassed enough fire power to take down any country it sets it sights on. The only way for us to counter-attack this organization now is to use a massive joint military exercise before they capture the Nine-tailed host. This is how dangerous Akatsuki has become." Gaara then eyed Naruto closely who could only look in seriousness. Naruto may very well be the last target that Akatsuki needs, and although it narrows down to him making it easier for the Akatsuki to be lured into a trap, they would most likely suffer immense amount of casualties just by guarding him.

The Kazekage then continued, "I sent requests for aid to the other Major villages countless times, but they were all ignored except by the former Hokage."

The Tsuchikage replied this young one has no grasp of politics and such, he must be taught, "Humph, if a country had its host captured then it has no business giving other countries orders, it's an embarrassment to the village. If you had lost your host, then why didn't you try to recover it in secret? Once it's stolen you can't expect other countries to help you."

That was fact. In the age of disarmament, hostilities between other countries still exist though it waned in time. Jinchuuriki were often regarded as secret, super soldiers that were only deployed in times of great conflict. Secret weapons that could trigger massive genocides in an instant, they were the either the trump card or the wild card of any village that had them. Hosts would determine a make or break decision. As such, destructive soldiers such as them were rarely ever needed in a time of inactivity. Time and resources were needed to make Jinchuuriki truly capable of handling their beasts. Resources that were increasingly becoming scarce for military funding as peace continued.

The Hokage frowned and then asked the elder Earth Shadow, "Then did you try retrieving them, your hosts?"

The pompous elder looked at the mirror image of the yellow flash and answered, "No. the first Jinchuuriki we had, Roushi, retired from Shinobi duty more than ten years ago. Since then, he has secluded himself and alluded most of my actions to retrieve him. Han vanished three years ago on a mission from Numa no Kuni. Han was a very dangerous subject, he was far too unstable. Instead he became a liability for the village; I couldn't very well exhaust time and money on a very unstable man."

That ass! How dare that man treat hosts like they were test subjects!? Naruto inwardly scowled at the eldest of the Kages. He tried to contain his anger, as a host himself, being considered a test subject was demeaning, dehumanizing. The man didn't very well understand human nature that well. He may have been old, but his way of handling things were far too merciless! Gripping the handle on his chair tightly, he mentally counted from ten backwards. He didn't want risking war on a village that had very well remained unaffected by Akatsuki's agendas.

Naruto watched Gaara as his eyes flinched a little, a sign of growing irate at the Tsuchikage as well. Naruto retained his poker face as did most of the remaining kages.

All of the Kages turned to the large man that had stood up, the gigantic and overbearing gauntlets on his arms were shaking along with his arms.

The Raikage immediately displayed what he exactly felt, by shattering a part of the table in front of him.

To this, the remaining occupants of the room immediately jumped, coming right in front of the table of each of their respective leaders. Weapons were drawn, fists were raised, hand seals were made, and Bloodline limits about to activate.

The mediator spoke, "I suggest you refrain from doing unnecessary actions. We came here to talk not to do such barbaric things."

Each of the following Kages motioned for their guards to stand down and go back to their places; Kakashi listened in closely as he had heard the Raikage about to speak. Gai had said in a low voice, "This isn't going exactly well."

"I didn't call of you here to talk about the Tailed Beasts! I called all of you here to know where your loyalties lie exactly!"

The Kages raised their eyebrows in question. As they watched the Raikage who was angry at all of the remaining Kages, he then scowled as each of the Kages was maintaining their calm. However, it seemed that the Hokage was starting to scowl on his own it was as if the tension was only getting higher and higher.

"Konoha, Iwa, Suna, Kiri, most of the members of that organization came from your villages particularly Konoha! All of you and even the former Kages, your nations had been under suspicion of using Akatsuki at least once!" The Raikage had shouted

Naruto had raised his voice this time, standing up in pure anger and outrage, "_What!?_"

Gaara seemed surprised as well; he did not know this, he restated it in questioning the Raikage, "Used Akatsuki? What do you mean used Akatsuki?"

Naruto followed, "This better have a good explanation why you're blaming my nation as well! The Sandaime died because of one of its former members, my predecessor was placed in a coma by one of them. You tell me why my village would use Akatsuki when it was clearly invaded!"

Naruto was angered at this sudden revelation. Who would dare use those bastards in getting them closer to their goal!?

The Raikage turned his head to the Kazekage and said, "Your village council may not have told you this, but Orochimaru was enlisted to help in your invasion of Konoha. It was unclear if he was still part of that organization!"

The largest Kage then continued, "Two of the former Kages died as a result of that operation. I can't help but think that this was set up from the inside of one particular village."

Naruto frowned deeper; it only seemed to connect to one person in his mind,

_Danzo_

The Tsuchikage then spoke feeling as though it is the right time to say the facts about the current situation, "The great countries are enjoying a relative time of peace. They are moving from military expansion to disarmament. As tension eases between the countries, the risks of war grow smaller."

"But there in lies a problem…" The Mizukage added, the Tsuchikage nodded as he continued,

"Military villages are a drain in a country's resources. With this relative peace and disarmament, what would happen if war suddenly broke out? We can't rely on ninjas that are inexperienced and untested in battle. We'd lose the war. We'd lose our prospective clients, out village would fall."

Gaara seemed to get the idea of this, "So one way of dealing with that was to use a mercenary force like Akatsuki?"

The Tsuchikage defended, "It would take time and considerable resources for a village to build a powerful force. Akatsuki were professionals, they were hired for a relatively small amount, add to the fact that they showed good results."

The Raikage then pointed to the Water shadow and said, "What about Kiri? Intel reports stated that Akatsuki started as a mercenary group there. With no diplomatic relations to any of the countries, your village above all remain suspicious!"

The Mizukage bowed and said, "To tell all of you the truth, there were rumours that the former Mizukage was being controlled by someone. It could have been Akatsuki, but with no leads and evidence to point it out to them, I didn't make a big deal out of it."

It was then that the Tsuchikage pointed to the Lightning Shadow, "Other countries wouldn't have used Akatsuki if only you didn't amass your military forces! Didn't you know that you caused panic when reports of your brother, being sealed with the Hachibi, and another host for the Nibi!?"

The Raikage then threatened the eldest of the Kages,

"You watch what you're saying you old crone, or I'll smash you with my Aian Kuro-a! (Iron Claw)"

The escorts were about to erupt again, until the Hokage had spoke,

"Stop! Before any of you start smashing each other's fists, I'm going to share vital info on you based on the intelligence that were gathered in Konoha. I don't like where this is going any more than any of you do. But if we're going to discuss about Akatsuki, then I must very well tell you one key piece of information about the organization."

The Hokage then continued, "Seven Days ago, my village was invaded again, this time directly by two of the members of Akatsuki. One of them was supposed to be the apparent leader of the group, up until in the middle of our fight; I've lost consciousness and wound up losing control as the host of the Nine Tails."

The remaining Kages looked at the blonde whose steel gaze caught the attention of everyone in the room, the fact that one of the hosts is here meant that Akatsuki may be coming for him right now… It was a thought that many would scoff at, the five most powerful ninjas gathered in one place may bring Akatsuki to them, but they could only bring death upon themselves if they decide to disturb this meeting, with the Raikage out for blood, and with the Hokage relaying info on the remaining members, it was foolish for the organization to invade this event.

"I've studied in Fuinjutsu to a certain extent and although I'm no master, I'm adept at it. During in the lapse on my consciousness, the seal placed on me activated a fail safe program that rewound the seal; it was in this process that I met with the imprint of the Fourth Hokage."

The Tsuchikage paled at the mere title of the man.

"He told me that during the night of the assault of the Nine Tails to my village sixteen years ago, he had met and fought with a man wearing a spiral mask. The same man that manipulated the leader of Ame, Nagato, was there when we had a mission in retrieving Uchiha Sasuke. The man was bearing the uniform of the organization."

The Raikage in his impatience said to the blonde Kage, "Be quick about it Hokage! My patience is running thin!"

Naruto ignored the comment and continued on, "Being the person here along with one of my escorts most experienced in having encounters with Akatsuki and most of its members; I met Uchiha Itachi and said to me one name that you all have heard…"

Naruto then said, "Uchiha Madara."

To this, everyone's eyes were instantly on Naruto as he said while grabbing a book from his pocket, "This spiral masked man; the only person yet to be identified in this bingo book, MIGHT very well be the true leader of Akatsuki, Uchiha Madara."

"I thought he was long dead." The eldest of the Kages said,

"Most of us did as well, it's unbelievable but, from the intelligence reports left to me from one of the root members, it's been confirmed." Naruto answered.

"I guess he really is a monster then." The Tsuchikage could only mutter, he had read stories of Uchiha Madara, the patriarch of the Uchiha clan, the man that had said to have the ability to control the bijuu under his will. Most of the battles that had happened between him and Hashirama were legends that were passed down from generation to generation. If indeed Madara was still alive and is leading Akatsuki, then that means that the only thing that would let them win against Akatsuki would be take him down using large numbers. To use an audacious plan that would most likely result in him cooperating with the Kages around this very room.

Mifune had interjected he exerted his authority as mediator, "As the leader of a neutral country, I have to say, the leader of Akatsuki has studied the current of the times very well. He used the stability and suspicion of other countries to increase his power and spread his agenda unnoticed. If this continues, Iron Country will as well fall to this menacing threat."

Mifune closed his eyes and breathed in, all of these revelations in one day… Everything was spiralling out of control.

"But there's always a silver lining in this, it's rare for the Five Kages to have a meeting like this. What do all of you think? Until Akatsuki is taken care off, why don't you all, form a Five Village alliance?"

"An alliance!?' The Raikage asked in surprise, it seemed impossible!

Naruto didn't speak, contemplating on the situation; things were getting out of hand, as he thought. Mifune continued, "The chain of command should be uniform. We want to avoid any further confusion."

The Tsuchikage then stood from his seat and said

"And the question now will be who will have the highest authority in commanding this new army?"

Mifune answered, "You will only fight against each other to decide who it's going to be. Therefore, I would like for all of you to respect my decision as a neutral party, I will decide amongst you all."

Outside the Wolves Fanged Maw:

"Torune, Fu… Commence the operation." Danzo had commanded as he sat down on his chair, the two most elite members of Root nodded, quickly sending messenger birds to Konoha. The only sound could be heard in that place was the violent howl of the snow storm occurring outside.

* * *

Konoha:

Sitting beside the prone form of the Godaime, Sakura had looked over her master in a sullen expression, the message that Sai left behind still lingered in her mind as well as Naruto's gnawing at her mind every second that she could rest.

'_Sakura, please stop whatever you are doing, you and Sasuke are the cause of his greatest pain.'_

'_As the Hokage, I'm going to do what's right for my people.'_

"Shishou… Tell me, what should I do? I… I don't even know if what I'm doing is right anymore." She asked, as she hugged her knees and rested her forehead against it.

In her depression, she didn't see Naruto off unlike the rest of the villagers. The thought of him and their talk earlier, those blue eyes that steeled themselves for what is about to happen. It all made it hard to bear.

Is it really worth it? Getting back Sasuke here, was it really that important for Team Seven? Those times that the three of them spent together were the times that made her happiest. Even though Sasuke and Naruto often argued, the fact remained that Sasuke joined Akatsuki, assaulted and captured the Raikage's brother possibly to be left for dead.

Questions then began popping up in the cherry blossom's head. Her thoughts were suddenly derailed when Sai had entered into Tsunade's tent and sat beside his teammate. Sakura looked questioningly at the pale member of Root. Sai was too quiet even for her, he would often show an oblivious smile and insult her, but now… It was then that Sai had bowed to greet the unconscious Godaime and left a crumpled paper down on the ground right near Sakura.

Sakura then grabbed the note slowly and unfurled it.

She read.

'_I am forbidden to say anythi__ng about this, but Danzo-sama is about to instigate a usurpation to power. I can only convene to you this message in written form for fear of the other members may have become suspicious of my activities. Danzo is going to kill Naruto. Please inform him. I can't do so.'_

"Sai… Is this true?"

Sai could only nod once. Sakura stood from the ground and said to Shizune in a whisper, "Shizune-sempai, I need to go to Iron Country and inform Naruto of the situation before they can begin."

With a nod, Shizune watched as Sakura went out, searching for team members that she may most likely need.

She needed to hurry, Root was about to stage a Coup d'état.

* * *

Summit:

"What!?" The Raikage asked incredulously.

Naruto was wide eyed, too stunned for words… No, no! He shouldn't be doing this! It was too much! His responsibilities back at the village were already hard!

The mediator spoke in a calm manner, explaining his reasoning to his decision. "Out of all hidden villages, Konoha has yet to lose their host. Also, to put him in the seat of power makes it an even better chance to limit Akatsuki's movement. I do not see the problem in this. If they still have their host, then that means that they are doing SOMETHING right."

The Tsuchikage agreed with the Raikage's outrage, "But to take orders from a child!? Especially that of the Yellow Flash!? I would never!"

"I'm not biased against the Fourth Hokage, but a teenager, who more or less took the title of Kage in more or less than a week ago? The alliance would surely fall!" The Raikage exclaimed. Naruto, despite the raps against him, also thought it was true.

He raised his arm and said, "I'd have to agree with them, I'm still not suited to take command of such a large scale army. I don't think we will succeed if you allow me to."

Mifune nodded and said, "Even though that's true, your village has managed to keep you inside its walls. And you have experience in dealing with most of the members. It is best if you lead."

Naruto then said, "I-I can't take this kind of responsibility. I don't…"

Mifune could understand the youth's words, but then said, "A leader should set an example, is it correct?"

Naruto nodded, and Mifune spoke again, "Then you are already an example to the other countries as you are the only host still accounted for. It means Konoha knows how to handle the situation, if your predecessor can handle it, then you can as well. After all, it is the next generation's duty to surpass the previous ones."

Naruto remained silent as he balled his shaking hands to fists.

He wanted to be Hokage, he wanted to bring peace. But if he would lead this, it meant that he had betrayed his promise to Nagato. All he could do was bite his lip in frustration and close his eyes as he bowed, wishing himself to disconnect to the world.

'_Damn it, what should I do!?'_

'_If I can't find the answer, then you'll be the one to find it for me! Okay?'_

'_I believe in you, son… You'll be the one to find that answer, be brave and continue down that path you have chosen. I'll always be with you.'_

'_I am putting my faith in you… Yahiko's dream… My dream… Is now yours.'_

'_Is this it?! Was this the ideal peace I wanted to achieve!? Peace through War!? Sacrifice for prosperity!? I'm betraying Nagato's trust! Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!'_

A Samurai had dashed towards the meeting, interrupting the talks of the Kages as it shouted, "Uchiha Sasuke has invaded the summit!"

Every Kage stood up from their seats and the Water Shadow asked, "What is he doing here!?"

The Raikage, ever the ill-tempered man he was shouted, "I don't care. Shi, Darui! We are going to take down Uchiha Sasuke!"

After a few minutes, everyone remained silent. Naruto then thought,

'_Maybe finally confronting Sasuke would clear my head.' _

It was then that Naruto stood up and said to Kakashi and Gai, "We're going."

The remaining Kages looked at the Fire shadow whose eyes were overshadowed as he stared below.

Kakashi and Gai nodded.

"The Raikage may want to cool off his head, but I only want answers. Kakashi, Gai, We're going to support the Raikage and the team from Kumo."

With a flick of his hands together to form a middle index cross seal, Three Kage Bunshin popped into existence as Naruto said, "You all know what to do."

The Mizukage licked her lips, "Such a fine young man indeed."

The three clones nodded as they scattered away from the sight of the remaining Kages.

* * *

Sasuke vs. Raikage:

"Chidori! (Chirping of a Thousand birds)" Sasuke mentioned dashing towards the Raikage in a straight line as the Raikage surrounded his body with lightning chakra, his chakra flaring and buzzing like an overloading circuit around his body.

The Raikage then suddenly moved, stepping forward, his elbow drawn to the outreached hand of the Uchiha.

As elbow and Jutsu clashed, lightning crackled from the middle of the two fighters, the shockwave of the chakra forced back multiple samurai from their positions. Sasuke cursed as he jumped back, avoiding one of the Raikage's mighty fists as it came down at him like a meteor.

"His Chidori didn't work!?" Suigetsu exclaimed, as he dodged a blow from Darui who then pumped lightning chakra to the sword, shocking Suigetsu. The apprentice of Zabuza jumped back as Juugo appeared from behind, his curse seal partially activated, his arm contorting and changing form in a grotesque manner.

The gigantic man from Taka rushed towards Darui who sidestepped and let the rampaging powerhouse Juugo ran past him, going straight to the Raikage, who with the activation of the Jutsu, instantly reacted, kneeing Juugo in the gut and then with his strong palm, literally pushed Juugo of his place and slammed the said man on the wall.

Sasuke appeared from behind, his sword crackling with lightning. The Raikage was quick to react as he ducked below the swipe and then grabbing Sasuke by the waist and raised him up like an adult would a child. Darui smirked.

'_Even if Uchiha Sasuke has the Sharingan, Raikage-sama's jutsu, Raiton: Yoroi (Lightning Release: Armour), allows his synapses to respond in the speed of light, causing his reflexes to be comparable to that of the Fourth Hokage and his attacks to become faster and stronger.' _

The Raikage then held Sasuke by the neck; he then jumped and with his enormous strength, slammed Sasuke down on the ground causing the ground beneath to collapse as the Raikage shouted before power bombing Sasuke,

"Raiga Bomu! (Liger Bomb)"

Sasuke was slammed on the ground, feeling the impact of the damage given to him. His head was shaking from the attack. The Uchiha was thankful he was alive by the set of bones from behind him. The Raikage jumped back as black flames erupted from the ground.

The gigantic Kage watched as Sasuke struggled to get up and with a sudden burst, he jumped up and performed a Tsukuyomi towards Shi who had used a Genjutsu temporary blinding and disorienting Suigetsu, giving Darui the chance to advance towards Suigetsu, slashing the boy who had liquefied as his weapon went through the Fanged boy that looked like a shark.

Shi had suddenly fallen when Sasuke triggered his Genjutsu, causing his left eye to bleed as did his right. Sasuke was panting, those three were strong, the Raikage wasn't a Kage for nothing, even with his Sharingan, he couldn't follow the Raikage's movements; it was far too fast for his eyes to react.

The Raikage instantly jumped towards Sasuke, who had evaded another vicious punch that shattered a part of the upper bleachers. Sasuke was suddenly surprised when the Raikage could keep up with him. The Raikage didn't even seem to put any effort to it, as the large Shadow said, "This is for my brother, Uchiha Sasuke! Erubo! (Elbow)"

Thrusting his right elbow once again, lightning danced around him Sasuke couldn't evade in time as the elbow thrust towards his chest, pushing him in a powerful force that would have stopped the heart of any normal man. Sasuke was thrown away from the Raikage, skidding and collecting dust clouds in his path, finally being embedded on the wall.

Sasuke, in another fortunate set of events, triggered Susanoo once more, the bones were present again as it wrapped itself around Sasuke, stepping away from the rubble.

"Get out of my way…" Sasuke said, hoarseness in his voice that fight with the Raikage was starting to wear him down.

Inner room:

The Kazekage, Tsuchikage, and Mizukage, all stared on the table quietly with the Hokage wordlessly getting out to go and 'find some answers' and the Raikage taking out all that pent up anger on the person that had done him wrong.

The Tsuchikage merely smirked at this predicament, he had believed that the meeting, no matter how big news that it was, was one that would only involve the tongue lashing dished out earlier as the main action. But no, Akatsuki indeed didn't ignore this event. They knew that with the Kages meeting, it meant that they would be faced with the Five Great Nations themselves, the Tsuchikage shook his head. Such a mistake could prove to become bigger now that they decided that they should interfere.

"So the hawk has descended to search for his prey… Only to descend in the pit of snakes." Gaara muttered as he looked up, he had wanted to come and help, but if Naruto wanted answers first, then he would follow later. Right now, Naruto wanted answers from Sasuke, and that usually meant forcing Sasuke to calm down.

"Poetic, are you, Kazekage-dono?" The water shadow commented Gaara merely looked at the woman and said, "When you can't sleep, thoughts of multiple objects invade the mind. I have them often when I was younger."

The eldest of the Kages smirked as he said.

"My, my, what a passionate fool, he is, that Raikage. Doesn't he know the meaning of the word, restraint?"

Gaara replied, "He speaks his mind and does things on his own, impulsive yet controllable."

"Humph, for a brat, you sure know how to pull the strings to this old man's temper. I see that the former Kazekage has taught you a lot, but he forgot to instil manners in you." The Earth Shadow replied, another smirk appeared from the old man's face.

Gaara merely stood up and said, "And you are a person who has lost himself in the title of Tsuchikage. Honour, Tradition… I have no need for such petty things. In the line between life and death, manners are the least that I need."

With that, The Kazekage walked away, motioning for his siblings to come with him, with Kankurou smirking as their backs were turned on to the Tsuchikage.

"Yeah, that's right you arrogant prick, you got what you deserve." Kankurou muttered.

"He is quite a pure one, isn't he, Ao?" The Mizukage inquired to her eldest escort, the man nodded in reply, "And the Hokage… Such intensity in his eyes as he walked away… If he were only a few years older…"

"Perhaps it's time we interfere as well, Ao, Choujuro… Come…"

The two escorts of Kiri nodded as the Mizukage stood and left towards the battle. Leaving behind the aging Tsuchikage.

"Very well… Shall we join them too, Akazuchi? Kurozuchi?"

The Tsuchikage smirked inwardly; it had been years since he had stretched his weary bones, he just wished his hip wouldn't suddenly ache at the chaos about to ensue, because from the looks of it, all hell would break loose the moment all Five Kages act in one area.

* * *

Konoha:

Neji nervously looked around, four of them were about to depart as soon as they see a hawk landing from the direction of Iron Country, they would break for it.

"Are you sure about this Sakura?" Neji asked, Sakura only nodded,

"Troublesome… Only a week of rest and we're already sent on action, let me remind you Sakura, I just recovered from a broken leg." Shikamaru muttered, shaking his leg a little as he stretched his neck from side to side, all that rebuilding took a lot of work this past week. He would go crazy if that Coup d'état managed to succeed, the work that all of the people had put in the reconstruction would be wasted.

"The Hawk as coming closer, one hundred metres from our starting point, Neji-niisan… No sightings of ROOT members in our vicinity" Hinata had informed them, the Hyuuga genius nodded and said,

"Very well, I will be the second in command in this team, our mission right now is to inform Hokage-sama of what Danzo is about to do. We will intercept them when the summit ends, hopefully, this will end peacefully. Sakura-san, you shall be the one to provide medical support, Hinata-sama would be our tracker, since Kiba and Shino are unavailable, Shikamaru, you will be commanding officer, I'm sure you already know."

Shikamaru waved his hand off and said, "Yeah, yeah, I know… Just let me remind you that going to Iron Country would take us at least two days at our top speed. With the possibility of encountering Danzo, we should take a different route, it would be longer, but it would be sufficient enough for us not to be tracked down and be safer, I don't want any casualties on both sides, we're already as thin and as worked out as it is, we don't need to outright kill each other. Hinata, Neji, put your Doujutsu to good use."

"The Hawk has just landed." Hinata mentioned, Shikamaru nodded

Adjusting the trench knives strapped on his back, Shikamaru then nodded, "Alright, let's go."

With a flick of their hands, they jumped from their positions and into the tree branches above. Going northward towards Iron Country.

* * *

Iron Country:

Sasuke found out that despite having Susanoo, it was still incomplete. He could still feel the impact of the attacks coming from the Raikage, and they hurt… A lot. Surrounding himself in the black fires of Amaterasu, he once again underestimated the Raikage's bullheadedness in this situation, as the gigantic man literally blasted his left arm through the everlasting black flames, with Sasuke feeling the damage of his attack hitting him a few centimetres below his windpipe.

Sasuke fell down, rolling on the ground as was met with a Raikage, prepared to deliver another attack.

"Girochin… Doroppu! (Guillotine Drop)" The Raikage said, as Sasuke triggered yet again, his Mangekyou Sharingan (Kaleidoscope Copy Wheel Eye), flaring to life as the red of his iris and the three tomoe eye began to shape to that of an atom as black flames erupted from the ground, Sasuke muttered,

"Enton: Kagutsuchi! (Flame Release: Kagutsuchi)"

Black flames erupted from the spaces above Sasuke's chest, five columns of black flame was about to swallow burn the Raikage alive, until sand seemed to explode between them. The said objects were now drizzling on the open floor.

The Kazekage had controlled his sand once again as the Raikage was flung back as he had heard a voice coming from the back.

"Fuinjutsu… Fuukahoin (Sealing arts: Fire Suppression seal)"

Countless tendrils of chakra were shot over to the ebony fire as the black flames that danced around samurai and the Raikage's arm alike were swallowed into a small scroll that had the words of snake, boar and tiger written on it, the design around the area that the black fire were collected were two snakes as it opened its maw and the kanji of fire written big in the middle.

Sasuke looked at the jutsu that had triggered, this has never happened before! The black fire was suppressed from someone not him!

It was then that he heard footsteps, walking and in rhythm, the sounds of the sandals slamming on the floor, getting louder and louder as the Uchiha looked on in the shadows as a pair of feet emerged along with the hem of his haori, his voice ever familiar to the Uchiha as he said,

"Hello Sasuke."

To be continued…

* * *

Cliffhanger, yes, I know I'm evil, next chapter would be Sasuke versus Naruto so wait for that. Yet again, since my BETA still isn't done with the proofreading, I decided to post this draft as my chapter and will most likely be replaced as I did with Chapter 3.


	5. Yin and Yang

Just to make things clear on the power levels here between Naruto and Sasuke:

Taijutsu: **Naruto** vs Sasuke (Kawazu Kumite)

Ninjutsu: Naruto=Sasuke (Fuinjutsu/Sage Mode and Mangekyou Sharingan)

Genjutsu: Naruto vs **Sasuke** (Tsukuyomi)

(Note: Bold words are those that have the edge over the other.)

So it's pretty evenly matched in terms of those three, I give power and endurance to Naruto and then speed and agility to Sasuke. Tactics is given to Naruto, and then Skill to Sasuke.

The Hokage's Will

Chapter Five: Yin and Yang

* * *

A few minutes earlier:

Zetsu had no choice, to make up for his mistake in Konoha, he knew of one alternative for Madara to get what he wants and in the same process, redeem his mistake. The leakage of false information from Konoha had hurt Zetsu's pride; it had a major setback to their plans of course, he wanted to inform Madara at least before, but it seemed the route from the area that they had infiltrated to, had been guarded tight now. He could probably escape on his own, but leaving Sasuke's little troupe on their own was suicide as Sasuke might do something worthy of attention.

It was a blessing though, that Sasuke was actually willing to fight the people from Konoha. Perhaps it was his blind hatred of anyone affiliated with the leaf village, but nonetheless, Zetsu, as Madara had been doing, would capitalize that hatred of Sasuke to suit the needs of Akatsuki.

After all, one man who is blind in his hatred would need a guide to direct his anger. Madara had given him direction, Sasuke had the drive. What he needed, was further advancement.

So he had formulated a plan, in order for Sasuke to grow strong, without dying from the Five Greatest shinobi that are currently walking in THIS VERY ROOM. He sank to the floor as he reminded Sasuke not to be seen for a moment. Sasuke's eyebrow was raised in question.

Once Zetsu had appeared down below, he gave a menacing chuckle as he said with a sneer, "Uchiha Sasuke is in THIS VERY BUILDING! Find him if you dare!"

With that, Zetsu was seemingly stabbed like an animal by the samurai as their chakra powered blades pierced through the body of Zetsu who, unknown to the rest, began spreading some dust into the area unsuspectingly… And then…

Pandemonium.

Sasuke had jumped down below filled with his rage, as he activated his Sharingan with the Samurai already going for him.

"If you are going to block my path, then… Be prepared to pay for it!"

It was in the midst of his terrorizing that the Raikage had appeared, bursting with that armour of lightning. The Lightning shadow came at him with ferocity of a bloodhound, nailing Juugo on the wall as his escorts dealt with Suigetsu.

Although he had managed to be relatively unharmed with a few bruises and cuts – Along with the bleeding eyes - those blows coming from the infamous Raikage hurt like a bitch!

The Raikage was fast as he was powerful, his Taijutsu was completely unbelievable! The imposing physique of the man showed in battle, and although he was limited to close range combat, that didn't mean he couldn't get close to him fast.

The bout with the Raikage had proven to be more of a challenge than he ever thought, disregarding the fact that the man was willing to literally burn his arm off from Amaterasu just to nail a powerful clothesline just below his neck.

He almost had the man with his new technique, up until sand literally exploded in between them with the Raikage being flung back to the area where the Kazekage was. Sasuke seemed surprised at first, but was more shocked than anything else that his black fire, the everlasting flames of Amaterasu began to move, not to his will, but being absorbed in a scroll. The black flames flickering about everywhere and burning the samurai were slowly grabbed by the tendrils of chakra and in a few seconds it was gone.

It was unbelievable!

Up until now, no one, in his mind, had ever stopped Amaterasu except him. He hadn't thought it was possible to do so.

But there it was being sealed into that scroll. In the midst of his shock, footsteps were heard as it slowly approached the scene. Each step, almost a second apart from each other, as if it was the only noise that Sasuke could hear in this room.

With a resounding last step, Sasuke looked around and saw a pair of black sandals, with the black hem of a haori, Sasuke looked up as the man's features were covered by the shadows as he spoke,

"Hello Sasuke."

That familiar brought a smirk to his face as he said to the man, "Naruto… So you're the Hokage now, eh? Good for you."

Naruto seemed to frown, something felt different about this Sasuke; it was as if Sasuke was looking at him like an amused psychopath.

It seemed that his indifference back then felt different, it felt like he had one thing above all else to Naruto.

Contempt.

"I've got questions that need to be answered, Sasuke." Naruto mentioned, looking into the evolved Sharingan eyes that Sasuke possessed.

Sasuke laughed a little and said to the blonde, "Still the idiot, I see. I'll answer any question you might want."

Sasuke then pointed to his face with his thumb and defiantly said to Naruto, "If you can land a punch against me."

Naruto raised an eyebrow at this and replied, "Still the arrogant bastard. If that's how you want it then, fine. Raikage, Kazekage, don't interrupt."

The Raikage replied, outrage in his voice, "What!? Hokage! We should take him down this instant! We can take him down with the three of us!"

The Kazekage raised his arm and said to the Lightning Shadow, "This is an opportune moment for us to gather information about Akatsuki and their plans. Hokage-dono wants answers Raikage-dono, he knows what he's doing."

The Raikage grunted and crossed his arm all the while saying, "It sounds as if you knew the Hokage yourself, Kazekage. Fine then, I'll let the Hokage have his way with Uchiha Sasuke."

He then continued, "But if things get out of hand, I'll personally end this."

Naruto merely approached forward to reveal his yellow sage eyes.

"Thanks for that Raikage." He said, not turning his eyes for one moment from Sasuke. The Uchiha looked at him with that confident grin again, he may have wasted almost half his chakra from his last fight, but it won't be a problem now.

"Let's do this, Naruto!"

The blonde wordlessly dashed forward cocking his fist back, as he leaned his body forward increasing his speed.

The two dashed towards each other with Sasuke closing in faster than Naruto, once Sasuke appeared in front of Naruto, the blonde then hurled a punch at Sasuke, who effortlessly leaned his head to the side, narrowly hitting him in the face, but something of unknown force, collided with his cheek, sending him flying back from the blow. A grunt of pain escaped from his mouth being thrown back from his position. Naruto merely smirked at that when Sasuke was flung back. Somehow, that felt satisfying

Sasuke didn't know what hit him. One moment he had evaded that punch, the next something rattled his brain as his face was met with something akin to a punch. He stood up. Looking at Naruto intently, his eyes didn't see that attack! Did his Kyuubi Chakra activate again? No, even though it was a different chakra, he could still see it. Then, what had hit him square on the cheek that managed to break his Sharingan's predicting pattern!?

"First question then Sasuke, what are you doing here?" Naruto asked

Sasuke answered scowling, "Lucky shot but I'll answer, I came here on the pretence that I was to assassinate the presumed Hokage, Danzo."

Naruto raised his eyebrow at that and then said, "Obviously he's not the Hokage; I am. Second question, why are you targeting Danzo?"

Sasuke dusted himself and said, "If you can punch me again, I'll tell you."

He sneered at Naruto at that one to which the blonde looked impassive at, his controlled anger was reaching to the limit.

"You like hurting yourself much, Sasuke?" Said the Fire Shadow as he went for his stance of his Kawazu Kumite (Frog Kata).

Sasuke charged at Naruto head on, his Sharingan eyes spinning faster than normal his clairvoyance activating at an increased pace. He stopped and jumped to the side as he saw the punch about to collide with his face. But as soon as he thought he was out of range of the attack, his chest was rattled to what seemed like being smashed through a brick wall. Sasuke coughed out blood at that as Naruto, without letting up, punched Sasuke directly at the face this time, resulting in the said Uchiha to collide to one of the standing pillars around the room.

"Ready to answer yet?"

Sasuke growled this time as he got out of the rubble that had once been a column.

To this, Sasuke spoke, "Danzo, along with the elders, Homura and Koharu, they ordered the massacre of the Uchiha clan to stop an attempted Coup d'état stemming from my clan… Itachi was forced to kill every last one of them… That's why Konoha is my target right now! Every last one… Every last one that subject themselves to follow Danzo and the others!"

Sasuke for once was growing frustrated, his Sharingan was absolutely useless against Naruto in close range, if he could do all those invisible hits at a moment's notice, Sasuke knew he wouldn't stand a chance against the blonde if he was up close. He'd resort to a different tactic then…

Naruto was startled at this, he didn't know anything about the Uchiha Massacre, but to him, right now, the most important bit was to obtain the information that he needs.

"If your target is Danzo then I'm sorry but he's not here. However, I can't let you involve others that clearly did not know what happened that night. Tell me Sasuke, why did you involve yourself in Akatsuki?" Asked the Fire Shadow,

"To get what I want." Sasuke answered as he crouched down, his hand crackled as lightning began to seep around the Uchiha, dancing like crescent waves and lines of electricity wisps flailing around, the sound of a thousand birds chirped.

"Sasuke."

Sasuke was surprised; he could hear the voice of the blonde on his back who was now sitting on it.

"Do you know why the Uchiha were killed off?"

Sasuke let the lightning from his hand, spread throughout his body, activating his Chidori Nagashi (One Thousand Birds Current) Naruto jumped and landed on one of the supporting beams as Sasuke shouted,

"They were suspected of releasing the Nine Tailed Fox sixteen years ago… They couldn't do it; the Fox was a natural disaster on its own! There's nothing to prove that the Uchiha had some involvement in it!" Sasuke screamed

Naruto shouted, "And you think murdering those countless innocents would satisfy your vengeance!? You're only doing what those advisers had done! And you say that you're different from them!?"

Sasuke retorted, "You think that I care about that!? Did those advisers spare my clan's children, men and women alike!? Those weren't involved!? There were children in that compound that haven't even walked and Konoha ordered for their deaths! You think it would justify just to that!? Just to their Deaths!?"

Naruto jumped down, and dashed towards Sasuke as Sasuke jumped back and brandished his Katana.

"Your ways of thinking are flawed!" Said Sasuke as he dashed at Naruto with his sword out held, lightning began to crackle in accordance to his chakra as lightning danced around his blade.

Naruto grabbed his Fuuma Shuriken, and wind began to encircle around it, swirling as his chakra transformed to wind.

"So are yours! You think whatever your doing would end in the scenario you want!? You think through that you'll gain peace!? You're just the same as that bastard, Danzo!"

"Shut up! Don't compare me to that scum!"

"What's not to compare!? He ordered to kill every last one of you! You're going to kill every last one from Konoha! Your bastard of a brother was just the same as you are!"

"Don't you dare speak of my brother in that way! Itachi died for Konoha! He suffered through such an ordeal just so that everyone from Konoha can enjoy that fake transition of peace!"

As blades and jutsu clashed, nullifying each other, Naruto and Sasuke jumped back, Sasuke was starting to breathe deep.

"Even then, that isn't the right way to obtain your peace! You may have killed people in Konoha, but the survivors will learn to hate you as well! They'll come for your blood! You think that cycle will end with just you delivering your idea of justice!?" Naruto shouted,

Sasuke began throwing him Kunai and shuriken that Naruto deflected as they ran sideways and clashing with their respective weapons in the myriad of columns in that building.

Sasuke pointed to the blonde and screamed, "You try telling that to the graves of every last Uchiha that were murdered on that night!"

Sasuke threw a kunai at the blonde. Naruto dodged by jumping and landing to one of the columns as he ran up and began jumping from column to column letting loose a volley of shuriken to Sasuke. Who evaded and took cover from with one of the columns he used as a shield.

"Do you even know what really happened the night of Sixteen Years ago!?" Naruto shouted,

Sasuke then with his kunai and steel cable, flicked it at the blonde who jumped away, another kunai was thrown, this time, faster than the first weapon as it ricocheted with the Kunai with the steel cable, trying to wrap around itself at Naruto who cut the cable down with his wind chakra powered Fuuma Shuriken. He hid behind the columns, landed down on the ground, and immediately sensed a presence approaching him fast.

It was then that Suigetsu had appeared from behind him, Kubikiri Houcho (Decapitating Carving Knife) in mid swing Naruto had caught the gigantic blade in the semicircle ring just above the handle with left hand.

'_Just with one hand!? How strong is this guy?'_ Suigetsu thought. Naruto immediately pulled the gigantic sword towards him, pulling Suigetsu as well. Naruto tossed the Fuuma Shuriken in his right in mid-air and then cocked his right arm back, in that midst of a second; Naruto punched Suigetsu liquefying the boy as Naruto tore through the torrential water down to his legs. Suigetsu reformed and stumbled back. It was then that Kakashi appeared and shocked the water puddle with a simple Raiton making Suigetsu pass out.

"Raiton: Raimyaku (Lightning Pulse)"

Naruto turned around, Kubikiri Houcho still in his hands, and impaled the approaching fully transformed Juugo by the shoulders with the sword and pinned him to another column, Juugo groaned in pain a little but smiled as his body transformed once again and formed what seemed to be ten holes above his head and his sides, chakra collected like little globules and was about to fire at the Fire Shadow. With his outstretched hand, Naruto formed a Rasengan before Juugo could finish his attack and slammed it on the said man's abdomen, flinging the gigantic man back with the force of a hurricane and slamming him to another wall, effectively rendering him useless in the fight.

It was then that Sasuke had appeared behind the blonde, despite his sensing abilities, he wasn't fast enough compared to Sasuke's speed, his right eye contorted and changed in the shape of an atom, signalling the activation of the Mangekyou Sharingan.

"_Tsukuyomi…"_

The eye contact was not to be however, as suddenly, one of Naruto's escorts had intervened

"Super Dynamic Entry!"

Gai had entered into the fray and kicked Sasuke by the side that was blindsided by Gai's direct flying kick to his abdomen. Gai didn't stop there as he lifts Sasuke with his leg and gave another direct kick to Sasuke sending him skidding on the ground.

"Are you alright, Hokage-sama?"

Naruto nodded and then looked towards Sasuke, who was now panting heavily.

Naruto's sage mode had deactivated, his red and yellow sage eyes fading from him as he saw Sasuke beginning to stand his eyes had once again flare to life, turning and contorting into the Mangekyou Sharingan, Naruto could feel the chakra building up with Sasuke as it began to grow and grow, forming the bones of Susanoo, this time, managing to complete the skeletal structure on its own.

Sasuke was breathing heavily.

"Let's see… You break… Into my… Absolute defence now, Naruto." Sasuke mentioned between his heavy breathing.

Naruto had then rummaged through his pouch and grabbed a scroll from his pocket, biting it between his teeth; he had used a set of five handseals to direct his chakra.

Boar.

Dog.

Bird.

Monkey.

Sheep.

During his training, he had inquired the toad sages about using the reverse summoning technique, the sages scratched their heads at this; the reverse summoning was first used when they summoned Naruto for his Senjutsu training and then to his Fuinjutsu training. To them, the reverse summoning was only done by the summons themselves and that there could possibly be no way that he could do this on his own.

_Flashback:_

"_Reverse summoning you say? Well, that's a different matter, Naruto-chan." Said Fukasaku scratching his head._

"_Normally only we can perform it, the reverse summoning functions for the summon animal to transport the contractor to where the said animal is. The idea of summoning your Kage Bunshin with the Sage chakra is different, you have the same chakra signatures as them, and so we can do that. But if you want to, it's going to be different from any regular summoning technique; you need some sort of guidance to do that. The Yondaime Hokage, I believe, could do that by using a special seal that let's his chakra home in on that seal, and then use his infamous Hiraishin no Jutsu (Flying Thunder God Skill) to travel there. If you can use a seal that is somewhat of a beacon for your chakra detecting skill in Sennin mode, I think it might just work." Fukasaku mentioned._

_Naruto nodded and understood, as he began reading through some of the seals in his book that pertained to use a seal like a beacon, he came upon a peculiar seal in the book that was used when someone is lost in a any given terrain, the seal would automatically light up whenever there was a corresponding seal with the same design, it acted like a messenger between two towns and relay the position of that said person through chakra._

_With Sennin mode, he could detect chakras around him, as long as he is exposed to that certain chakra for a period of time. However, searching for his own chakra was more difficult. Not only was the familiarity of his chakra the problem with detecting it, the problem lay in that when detecting the chakra of his clones in any location his own chakra would interfere to know where the location of the clones was._

_It was then, that through his brain storming, Naruto's mind had discovered something._

_Whenever he had summoned any toad in time, before they appear, a runic circle appeared and crawled to the ground just before the smoke had erupted and revealed the toad that he had summoned. Fukasaku mentioned that the circle was the considered the homing destination of the summoned animal or human. The normal medium on that was the contractor's blood. Naruto had then began to think, what if he modified that circle? What if he placed a different medium to the circle to summon one of his Kage Bunshin?_

_With that thought, he went again and asked the toad sages, Fukasaku and Shima, to assist him in making that summoning circle. The toads looked at each other and nodded. It was theoretical, but it might just work!_

_Flashback end_

Naruto then opened the scroll and in it, was the summoning circle rune that appears once Kuchiyose no Jutsu (Summoning Technique) was used. Naruto then grabbed the paper seal from his pocket, the seal that homed in on another seal that had the symbol of the Hare, for Speed and travel, Rat for dispersion and multiplication, Bird for tracing and location and a drawing of a spiral above the characters to activate the circle.

Naruto slammed the seal towards the scroll with the summoning circle written right down in the middle, immediately the flow of chakra went to the seal as it began to sway to the chakra, and homed in on one random seal that had the same design as that of the seal that Naruto had.

In one resounding pop sound, there appeared a Kage Bunshin in front of him, sitting in the lotus position with its eyes closed, and Naruto said, "Dispel quickly!"

The said Kage Bunshin did as it was told and vanished in a cloud of ninja smoke, Naruto's eyes began to change again, going from its cerulean blue colour to yellow, his pupil expanded sideways and grew a few millimetres as a red outline began to appear on the top of his eyelids.

"Another weird jutsu coming from you…" Sasuke mentioned, as he let the skeletal form of the belligerent Storm god to grab the gourd to its side and like dripping water splashed in an arc as it threw it in the air, forming an ethereal blade made of pure chakra.

Naruto was about to dash towards Sasuke, until he was stopped by Kakashi, Sharingan eye staring into the horned skeletal frame of Susanoo who held his shoulders and said,

"Wait, Hokage-sama… I can see that chakra is forming like some sort of coating… It's unlike anything I've ever seen before. Please approach with caution."

Naruto stopped and hesitated, Sasuke sneered at the blonde, a smile forming on his face as he said to Naruto, "What's wrong dobe? Where's that bravado that you had three years ago?"

Naruto frowned at Sasuke and then performed his signature move.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Shadow Clone Technique)."

Three clones then popped into existence as all of them began to dash towards Susanoo. The three clones then used the field to their advantage and hid among the pillars, dashing in a random direction per clone, Sasuke looked around, with those columns blocking his view of the Sharingan, there was no way to predict them. It was then a clone from above, with a Chou Oodama Rasengan (Ultimate Great Ball Spiralling Sphere) prepared, jumped and headed straight towards Sasuke's position, the ball already close to the skull of Susanoo. Swinging the sword of Totsuka upwards, the sword impaled the clone as it vanished in a cloud of smoke, immediately; the two clones have already appeared from the side both with the same attack as did the one above going to his side. Sasuke turned his head around to the right and let the gigantic sword swing the ephemeral blade. He had managed to hit the clone, with another slash from below, but the other one had passed through his defence as the clone slammed the giant Rasengan towards the side of the Storm God.

Sasuke then felt his technique shatter lightly, the side of the storm god rippled in the slightest and the free skeletal arm of Susanoo swatted the clone away like a fly.

"I guess I have no choice then…" Naruto muttered as he put his hands in a familiar middle index cross seal and two clones popped into existence.

The original held out his right hand as chakra began to swirl, his two clones began pouring chakra to the technique, wind rustled around the blonde as Gai and Kakashi stood back, the chakra gathered in Naruto's palm was enormous. As the ultimate jutsu of form and shape manipulation roared to life, the four blades that surrounded the sphere spun like a windmill, and it began spinning faster and faster as time progressed.

"What are these chakra levels!?" The Raikage asked the condensation of the chakra in Naruto's palm was unbelievable even from this position; he could feel just how dense the chakra was.

Gaara seemed to be curious as well, the grinding noise of the technique certainly didn't help. It was like a spinning fan, the wind blades were so visible that it was awe striking as it was frightening. His two siblings looked on from their aide of the Samurai, feeling the same level of goose bumps coming from the Fire Shadow.

"Fuuton: Rasen Shuriken. (Wind Release: Spiralling Shuriken)"

Naruto held the technique up, the winds began to grow wild and fierce, Naruto then threw the spinning chakra shuriken straight to Sasuke who was surprised that a properly maintained jutsu like that could be thrown for long distances.

The shuriken spun like a whirling buzz saw of death. Grinding and spinning its way straight to Sasuke's Susanoo. The sword was then placed close to the anticipated site where the chakra shuriken would place its deadly attack.

Sword clashed with shuriken as it began to fight and shred towards the ephemeral sword. Sasuke had found it hard just deflecting the said attack away with his Susanoo; it wasn't even dispersing the chakra!

It was then that the 'blades' of the jutsu dispersed leaving behind an orb that Sasuke viewed with his Sharingan. With his enhanced vision, his eyes grew wide.

Inside the glowing orb of destruction, the form of the chakra began to destabilize and the added wind chakra began to expand. The orb had hit the sword a few milliseconds later.

It felt like time stood still… Just for a moment, and then,

**BOOM!**

A large explosion tore through the hallways of the said room, as the initial shockwave gave a torrential howl all around the area, completely shattering the wall behind Sasuke. At the epicentre of the explosion, the blast radius of the attack began to literally eat away at Susanoo, as the microscopic needles of the Rasen Shuriken's explosion. The intimidating stature of the skeletal frame of the storm god was starting to disintegrate as its bones began to turn to dust.

It was here that the explosion had ended, Sasuke was near the brink of zero chakra reserves he was already kneeling on the ground and his breathing became even more laboured. He said between pants, "I haven't… Lost yet…"

"Yoton: Yokai no Jutsu! (Lava Release: Melting Apparition Technique)" Yelled the newcomer, obviously female, and a stream of the said element was thrown in the air. The Lava had landed just to the back of Sasuke, were the gaping hole from the Rasen Shuriken was evident, it may have been Sasuke's only escape route but it would not be possible. He would have to cross the stream of lava that was lying there waiting for him. And with his chakra levels, he would not be able to escape.

'_Is this… How far I could have possibly have gone!? Is this my death!?'_ Sasuke thought as before him had appeared the Mizukage, her escorts on her side.

His Susanoo was starting to collapse… That attack from Naruto, and his low chakra reserves were punishing him to his limit. There was no way… No way that he'd be beaten like this so easily!

"It's such a shame for a man, a handsome one such as you, to die. Don't worry before you die, I will be giving you a kiss to remember by in hell…" The water shadow said, giving a wry smile at the Uchiha as she held her hands together and formed another seal.

"Futton: Komu no Jutsu! (Boil Release: Skilled Mist Technique)" A colourless mist escaped her mouth as she breathed out, the haze of the mist littered her area as her two escorts jumped back and let the acidic atmosphere around the Mizukage and Sasuke to take place.

"I said to everyone not to interfere with our matters!" Naruto exclaimed, the Water Shadow answered to him,

"But this is a terrorist, Hokage-dono. And I can't forgive Akatsuki for manipulating Yagura-sama, the Yondaime Mizukage."

Naruto then shook his head and sighed in defeat. He finally said to Sasuke,

"Sasuke, give up. This is your last chance." Naruto mentioned, giving Sasuke the ultimatum. Sasuke snarled at Naruto as his answer, Naruto closed his eyes as he could see that the area around the Mizukage and Sasuke starting to distort, it seemed that the last technique that the Mizukage had done was evaporating liquid faster than expected, the acidic atmosphere was even starting to actually melt the skeletal frame of Susanoo as parts of its bone liquefied and fell to Sasuke's arms, burning him. Sasuke screamed in agony, the pain was terrible!

It was then that Zetsu earlier, the man that had seemingly dispersed himself from the arena jumped in the last second activating his Hoshi no Jutsu (Spore Technique and said all the while laughing, "Hahaha! All you Kages are idiots! You never took mind that I used this technique earlier on if any of you noticed!"

It was then that Zetsu had begun growing around the people in the room as they began siphoning chakra around the area.

"Wrong move." Naruto mentioned and immediately the Zetsu that had been absorbing his chakra seemed to petrify, he looked down and saw that his body was turning to that of a stone frog, with a horrified look; the petrifying effect crawled down the spore technique.

The Zetsu that clung to Naruto turned immediately to a statue and Naruto punched the brittle statue with his fists. His sage mode was partially, forcefully finished. He then saw another Zetsu clone that seemed petrified falling down to the floor and then shattering. Up above, the Tsuchikage had appeared and jumped down, his hands were clasped together and saw that a giant cube that looked like it was made up of dirt around.

"Jinton: Genkai Hakuri no Jutsu! (Dust Release: Detachment of the Primitive World Technique)"

The cube then smashed below on the prone form of the Uchiha looking ready to pass out from chakra exhaustion. The giant cube then fell on Sasuke as the area around the cube was disintegrated to dust. Naruto was about to dash to the scene when he felt another chakra signature that had suddenly appeared in the area, who looked on to his top right.

Standing on the railings in the balcony, shouldering Uchiha Sasuke, was the man that wore the orange-spiral mask, Uchiha Madara.

"Yo."

* * *

Konoha:

Shizune was running to find Yamato. Out of all the people that Naruto trusted next to Kakashi as a senior, it was the ANBU captain that had been spliced with the First Hokage's DNA.

When she found out from Sai of what was about to happen, she ran immediately outside as soon as Sakura ran outside and headed to Iron Country. When she had found the face plated ninja resting for a bit in a pile of wood. She immediately notified him of the situation.

"What!? A coup!? Since when…?"

"Since Hokage-sama has left. Right now, there are probably Root forces stationed just outside the gates for a complete lockdown with half of the forces of Root just outside the border of Iron Country… What do you suppose we do, Yamato-san?" Shizune asked.

"Please inform Shikaku-san, you must keep this as low key as possible, we only need shinobi loyal under the Hokage to be informed of this, and I'll handle those in the ANBU."

Shizune nodded and left. Yamato did as well, what bad timing this was! Right at the moment that he and some of the Konoha Shinobi had been rebuilding a district of downtown Konoha! Yamato had hoped that the members of Root did not begin their patrol already inside; he needed as much cover as possible for them to come up with a counter strike force.

* * *

Summit:

Naruto glared at the man with the spiral masked man, "_You…_"

His eyes narrowed as Zetsu had instantly appeared behind Madara and began infusing chakra to Sasuke. The Raikage spoke,

"What are you doing here, Uchiha Madara!?"

Uchiha Madara sat down on the railings and said, "Oh nothing, I was just hoping for Sasuke to at least critically injure one of you…"

He then eyed every single prominent figure inside the room, "It seems I made a slight miscalculation as to who the Hokage actually was… No wonder Sasuke wasn't able to hurt at least one of you, though I wonder, why did Sasuke not use Amaterasu?"

Naruto remained silent and grabbed the Fuuma Shuriken and two scrolls on the floor.

"Hokage, is this the person you were talking about earlier?" The Raikage asked and the blonde Fire Shadow nodded and said in a low voice, "That's Uchiha Madara."

"Uzumaki Naruto… So you're the Hokage now? I can't believe you managed to throw a wrench to my plans. Tell me, how did you make Nagato betray me?" The man in the spiral mask asked.

Naruto glared at Tobi and said, "Like I'll tell you… You used Nagato, just as you are using Sasuke right now! You bastard, you used Nagato's fragile state and almost destroyed Konoha!"

Uchiha Madara chuckled; the rest of the Kages looked on between Naruto and Madara.

Naruto then vanished from Madara's sight and instantly appeared from behind, his arm phased through the masked man as did the flowing Natural energy, completely missing Madara.

The punch however, shattered the railings to which Madara sat.

"You sent the fox to Konoha; you managed to plant the suspicion of the elders on the Uchiha. You were the one responsible for turning Sasuke the way he is now!"

Madara then said, "I admit… I was the one to turn Sasuke the way he is like now. But, I simply gambled on the choice and Sasuke followed through, he FOLLOWED me, I have no further answers to that."

Through these accusations, Madara had forgotten one small detail that had been with Sasuke since the beginning, Karin.

Karin was listening in closely, she was fearful when the Five Kages had entered the same room to deal with Sasuke, she could swear that someone inside the room had been able to detect her, but she didn't pay mind to it, as long as she didn't make a move she was fine. However when she heard of the accusations of the Hokage, she was starting to have doubts on this man. And however she saw it, it felt like it somehow made sense to her. The way he spoke to them when they were asked to capture the Eight Tailed beast, the way he spoke when they were about to go to Konoha. It was as if the man with the mask knew how to push Sasuke's buttons and make him go to anywhere and do anything Madara wanted to.

Madara then saw Karin and paused for a moment, and immediately, another distortion on space happened; it looked like a spiral and began to swallow Sasuke in it like water is to a drain until Sasuke disappeared.

"Just like before, that person is able to manipulate the Time-Space folds…" Kakashi muttered as the rest of them could only look at Madara in an awed expression

"Karin, please, heal Sasuke's injuries. Zetsu, grab Suigetsu and Juugo and get them out of here. I'll meet up with you later."

Zetsu did as he was told and grabbed Suigetsu and Juugo's downed forms. Juugo, who had earlier absorbed fresh cells from a downed Samurai, had reverted back to his human form after he painfully extracted Kubikiri Houcho from his arm.

"Now, Hokage, do you really want to know what had happened on the events that lead to the massacre?"

Naruto paused, he wanted to know himself, Sasuke seemed angry at him earlier when he mentioned Itachi, could it be that the massacre wasn't portrayed as it was supposed to be? That Uchiha Itachi had gone rouge and killed everyone from the Uchiha Clan?

It was then that Madara spoke about the night of sixteen years ago, the night when the Nine Tailed fox had assaulted the village. Then to the following events that lead to the massacre. Naruto's scowl further increased. When Madara was done, Naruto shouted,

"Then it really was you! This was all your doing!"

"What business do you have here then? I doubt that you just told us a history lesson about the massacre of the Uchiha clan." The Tsuchikage had mentioned.

Madara answered, "Ah yes, I'm just here to talk about the Moon's Eye Plan."

The people looked on, puzzled and intrigued by Madara's behaviour,

"You see long ago, when the Sage of Six Paths was still alive, he stopped a monster of a great, near apocalyptic proportions."

He then continued, "The Juubi was a monster that was the origin of the Tailed Beasts. The Sage of Six Paths sealed the Juubi into his own body and acted as the very first Jinchuuriki. He then sealed the body of the ten tailed beast up on the moon that which he created."

"On his deathbed, the Sage of Six paths was worried that the Juubi shall roam again, therefore, he divided the chakra of the ten tailed beast to nine different beasts on their own, known today as the Bijuu."

"My plan is simple, I will collect every Tailed beast there is and fuse them together and seal it in me. And with that power, I will ascend to the moon and fuse with the Juubi to project the most powerful Genjutsu, Mugen Tsukuyomi. With that, there will be neither conflict nor wars, all within that illusion, shall fall into a dream like trance."

The Kazekage interjected, "You think that plan of yours is actual true peace? I shall not allow it. You're only locking away the conscious thought of every human being."

The Water Shadow added, "What is there left if humans can't strive for their hopes and dreams?"

"You're just a madman on a quest to fulfil his delusions! You think that we shall let this slide by?" The Tsuchikage added

The Raikage then pointed to Madara "You just want the world for yourself!"

It was then that the Hokage spoke, "You're just pounding on our freedom, you bastard! You've got no right to talk about peace when you're the one who decided to cause all of this pain in the first place!"

Madara then stood up and looked at every person in the room once again, "It isn't as if I'd lose if you refuse! If you don't want to start a war, hand over the Hachibi and the Kyuubi right now!"

"**As if we'd let you!"** The Five Kages shouted

"What do you mean hand over the Hachibi!? Didn't you capture Killer Bee already!?" The Raikage questioned, Madara made a simple reply,

"No, the Hachibi escaped from our clutches, Sasuke didn't capture him."

The Raikage then sighed in relief for a moment and then angered by the thought of his brother slacking off once again, shouted, "That bastard! I bet he's just enjoying himself on his vacation! He didn't tell me anything! When I get my hands on him, I'll Aian Kuro-a his ass!"

Madara then said, "Reconsider your options. You will all certainly be in quite a trouble if you decide to not give in to my demands. The seven Bijuu are nothing to scoff at."

It was then that Naruto gave a firm reply, "No. I won't allow a man like you to do what he wishes with the world. You're sick and twisted view on peace would never happen! I won't allow it!"

The remaining leaders of their respective villages nodded, Madara then said,

"Alright, consider this day then that I, Uchiha Madara, declare the Fourth Shinobi World War!"

* * *

Iron Country borders:

Danzo had began to walk towards the Three Wolves' Fanged Maw, the crippled war hawk was accompanied by his best soldiers, Torune and Fu as the rest of his Root Ninjas began move and weave around the area. He looked up as he saw heard an explosion coming from the inside.

"Akatsuki has made a move, eh?" The old war hawk mused, as he stared into the clouds that seem to come from the center of the imposing landmark of iron.

"Torune, lead Team Delta on the northern front, there are three exits here, I want Fu to go to the western side and I'll be here in the eastern side of the exit, we'll surround this place, The teams stuck in Konoha are on standby, once the messenger hawk lands and is given the orders, they'll assassinate Tsunade if he doesn't respond to my demands. The rest of the teams are to lock down Konoha to prevent any reinforcements in coming out to here. When the Hokage is seen, Await on my command." Danzo instructed and his fifty strong Root Forces all divided and scattered around the area.

The winter winds howled and surged in that vague afternoon in Iron Country.

For today, there will be blood.

And that blood that shall be shed shall be the Hokage's blood.

Danzo would again dirty himself, in the name of the village that he so fervently loves.

* * *

To be Continued…

And so, World War IV in the elemental countries has begun. Hope you enjoyed this one; I sure did as I wrote this. And as mentioned, Sasuke is starting to feel the fatigue before his bout with Naruto; Sasuke underestimated Naruto in the beginning and paid the price for it. To me, this wasn't a fair fight, Naruto had owned Sasuke in this round because Sasuke was already fighting the Raikage even before. I'm not saying Naruto is powerful here, I'm just adding little tweaks to even his grounds against Sasuke as seen above; their power levels are evenly matched. Regarding Madara, I've decided not to make his appearance on Naruto earlier, for one, it was pretty dumb in my opinion, he was alone with Naruto for that moment, when he was at the Kage Summit he demanded that the Kyuubi and Hachibi be handed over to him at that moment. Think of it as what you want, for me, it just makes Madara the senile old fool that he is and is the reason why I laughed at the moment he demanded Naruto be handed over to him. Could be a lie, or couldn't but then again this is Madara.

Also, I don't think I'll be able to update in the next two weeks. As it is, I'm looking for a job now and there's nothing available about my job profession in my hometown. I'm thinking about going to other towns this following week and look there, here's hoping that I get a good job earlier than expected! Thanks for Rokudaime117 and Nirvana12 for being my BETA.

Review please!


	6. OneThousand Lamentations

The Hokage's Will

Chapter Six: One-Thousand Lamentations

* * *

War is a tragedy no matter how one sees it. In the midst of the fighting lay death, misery, poverty, destruction and hate; nothing made sense in wars. It is probably, the biggest atrocity of man that makes even mother earth weep. Such a travesty and convoluted life that humans live in. For be it victory or loss, there is only one thing that remains in the heart of people when all of the fighting quells.

It was hatred.

Ame, being the center of three major powers and the focal point of every ninja war it had participated in, had felt this tragedy more than any other nation combined. Indeed, the country and village deserved its name, the weeping country. The country of tears that had been shed by the departed souls who had fought for their ideals subdued many times in the past, the country of the people who shed tears in the midst of the never ending rain for the men that had left their wives with their newborns never to come back.

Nagato had been a victim of this war, a victim of circumstance, of incidence, of tragedy. His salt laden tears would forever be mixed with the waters of Ame and in his grief. But compared to others, he had in him, resolve. He decided to grow stronger, for the fact that he no longer wanted to lose anyone. Above all, he desired strength for one thing that would end all travesties of massacres and bloodshed. The child, bestowed with the noblest Doujutsu, desired for peace as did the Sage of Six Paths during his time.

Once Naruto had heard of this circumstance that Nagato had, he couldn't help but feel the sympathy bulging inside of him. The ninja rulebook had told him before, and probably left the most lasting impression in him to make him realize how his naivety would be useless in being a shinobi,

'_Never sympathize with the opponent'_

Yet, he did so, on _so many occasions_. Be it his worst enemy or not, the names kept appearing in his mind as well as their faces, Haku, Sasuke and Gaara to name a few, he knew he shouldn't have done so back then, but for them to feel the same type of loneliness and pain of abandonment as him, he couldn't help but show his sadness for them. Soldiers didn't need sympathy, humans did. He knew how terrible that nightmare of life was simply by just existing without a given purpose. He knew he fought in anger and rage when he was young, but never in hatred and contempt. Naruto could recall one fight that he had forsaken everything in him to defeat his enemy. It was against Kabuto. He could still remember how his anger triggered his hatred of the man so much, how betrayal can easily affect him. How one simple encounter with the man, he had to forego his ideals and just wanted to _murder _him. To him, Kabuto was evil, an evil that could kill anyone dear to him in cold blood. Kabuto, unlike Gaara, had been given choices about his life, and that was what made Naruto hate the man. Kabuto _chose_ to betray them, chose to follow Orochimaru, and chose to kill Tsunade in her most vulnerable! Gaara didn't choose to kill people on a whim. Someone who had poor parental guidance in his childhood didn't _know_ what he was doing was wrong; there was no one to guide him back then, and even if he did have one, they chose to use Gaara's fragile mind to their liking. It was utterly disgusting.

It was this feeling again, rising within him as he stared at the masked form of Uchiha Madara. A man, so bent on controlling the world with the palm of his hand, Madara didn't want peace, he wanted to play god.

It was in that context, that Naruto for the second time in his life, showed that contempt and hatred upon the man that stood before him. This was the man that could have possibly manipulated Kiri's former Mizukage, Yagura, attacked Konoha with the Kyuubi no Youko, created Akatsuki, used Nagato, brainwashed Sasuke and now declared the fourth great shinobi war.

"How… Paradoxical it is that the Hokage of Konoha turned out to be you, Naruto. The Kami must have an interesting sense of humour to favour you above Danzo as the Sixth Fire Shadow. It's so similar that if it weren't so tense, I'd laugh at it." Mentioned the masked man that stood before him, Naruto remained silent as Kakashi stepped forward, "Are you pertaining to the first Hokage, Senju Hashirama?"

Madara smiled beneath his mask and said, "Exactly. And just like the days of old, Naruto and Sasuke shall meet in battle one after another as did Hashirama and I once did."

Naruto frowned, "What do you mean?"

"It's fairly self-explanatory, Naruto. You and Sasuke, Senju and Uchiha, are fated to battle. Like the sons of the Rikudo Sennin, the elder, who inherited the eyes of the sage, the power of his chakra and spiritual energy and the younger, who inherited his body; his willpower and physical energy, you two will fight on two sides. It's your fate."

And with just that, Madara turned his back and gave a wave, a small distortion had appeared as he was sucked right in, saying his final word, "The next time we meet, will be on the battlefield."

And with that, Madara vanished just like he came.

Ryuutenbi no Onoki, the Earth shadow, shook his head and muttered.

"And so the gates of hell have opened. Thus leaves us with a crisis worse than that of the third war. Such a pity that out of every sane human born in to this world, there is always a madman that follows through."

Gaara closed his eyes and muttered, "And to thus, tragedy bequeaths tragedy."

Naruto closed his eyes for a moment and thought about the words that Nagato had left him, the ninjas of Konoha and the events unfolding now. His hands balled into fists as he punched a wall in frustration.

"Damn it!"

Unknown to many of the people inside the room, Naruto had bottled up the emotions that he felt ever since finding out about Sasuke joining the criminal organization, revelation after revelation, Naruto wanted to stop for a moment and sit down, think about all of what's happened and finally make a decision. But Naruto couldn't do so, he didn't have the time. As the Hokage, his time was taken from him for his people.

There could only be so many events to weigh someone down until they have reached a breaking point. Naruto was no better, ever since being in this summit things have spiralled into chaos that it was just a matter of time or any more revelations coming from an outside source and he would snap.

Naruto would soon find it out to be sooner rather than later.

* * *

Sakura's team:

Sakura and the rest were panting; they had to access a different route to the Kage Summit that was taking place in Iron Country. They had been travelling non-stop, the two days that had been their estimated was cut short, running through the whole of fire country in a day's worth of travel, when they knew that their friend would be in great danger, Sakura didn't want that, losing Sasuke was enough, losing Naruto would be a devastating blow to everyone.

Once they had reached the borders of Iron Country, Neji and Hinata's Byakugan were on their highest fields of vision, scouting for hostile ninjas that were members of Root. Shikamaru looked up seeing the grey clouds and the falling snow, slowly descending to the ground, Shikamaru sighed,

"Not two weeks of rest and the clouds are so gloomy… This is a troublesome situation we have here."

Neji mentioned to them

"There's a team of Konoha ANBU to the east, three kilometres from us, it might be ROOT. We should lie low and slow down for a moment, we need the rest."

They took that moment to slow down for a few minutes, as they remained hidden from sight and sat in uncomfortable silence. Sakura had looked on, grasping the cloth on her thighs in a tight grip.

"Shikamaru, how many forces do you think Danzo has in this summit?"

The ever lazy tactician merely looked up above the grey clouds that seemed to remain static in the sky.

"There are five powerful ninjas that have earned the title of Kage, and of those five, they have two elite bodyguards, the closest they have to the level of an ANBU captain or higher, each. Putting that into perspective, there's fifteen elite ninjas that are A to S class levels. If Danzo plans to have an assault force strike the meeting, then he would need to play with the numbers game, quantity versus quality. I don't know Danzo's motives but you can be sure that he may know something we don't."

Hinata activated her Byakugan once again, checking out the clearing that they rested on, there were no hostiles in sight.

"There's a team of Konoha Shinobi stationed just directly in front of us, five kilometres, there are three of them, do we intercept them or do we avoid them?"

Shikamaru shook his head, "We're nearing the summit venue. Right now, the shortest goal is the most important goal, and that is to inform the Hokage on the attempted coup and if possible, cripple some of the numbers to turn into our favour."

Shikamaru then continued, "Right now, Konoha can't probably send for reinforcements, being that the village would be in lockdown. The safest bet is to let the ninja left in there to take care of ROOT. My father is a good strategist, once he got hold of the information, he's already thought of counterattack measures. No doubt that the village would be stalled long enough for Danzo to act, my guess is that he's carrying more than a hundred shinobi at his disposal. But I have a bigger fear on what might happen if Danzo pulls off his operation."

Everyone remained silent as Shikamaru continued, "We're taking them down, fast and hard, we'll use hit and run tactics and make a beeline straight to the summit venue."

Shikamaru then explained what they had to do. Countless scenarios played out in his mind as it began to work fast. Hit and run tactics were much more dangerous and risky than ambush tactics, for one, it left quite a mess in the aftermath, another reason would have to be that they needed to make sure that they move fast, strike fast and make sure their targets down while running away to make no scenarios of pursuit. Blitzkrieg tactics were highly effective if you knew the abilities that are presented to you based on the information gathered beforehand. As it is, you knew where and how to strike when using such a strategy, and that is to where the enemy will be blindsided the most and to hit them in such speed and accuracy that it becomes devastating for the enemy to follow through. But then it becomes completely useless when the gathered information is incomplete.

Once they got closer to the stationed ANBU forces, all four of them kept quiet and crept in silence, as three stationed elite ANBU forces immediately had their guards up.

Sakura had appeared from above, her right fist drawn back as an immense amount chakra gathered on her fist giving off a blue glow. She struck down below, releasing the chakra to the earth, shattering the hard matter below, slabs of earth rose from the ground as the cracks from the earth gave way and forced the three masked ninjas to jump. In a quick motion, Sakura dashed away from them, bolting forward at high speed. As soon as they saw, what the pink haired shinobi did, realization dawned on them too late.

Countless shadow needles had appeared from the ground, piercing the first ninja with the hawk mask. The shadow needles protruded from countless parts of his body including his head as blood was drawn from the man, not a second too soon, two more ninjas appeared, jumping from the canopy of trees as the first gave a direct palm strike to the chest as the other pierced directly at the back of the head and then to the throat, severing the chakra pathways and also the windpipe effectively suffocating the man before he could shout for an ambush.

Quickly, the ninjas left away without turning back, Shikamaru made sure to leave a message for the remaining members via an explosive note planted on the ground as they approached the giant landmark of the Country of Iron, The Three Wolves' Fanged Maw.

Shikamaru knew then, that if they were detected right now, it would most probably be too late; they were already nearing the entrance. As a famous general had once said during the First Shinobi World War,

'_The die has been cast'_

* * *

Konoha:

Everyone in the small room were tense, indeed, there had been activities that some of the ninja began to question when Root forces were expected to do gate guardian duties on the four main gates of the village that were supported by the outermost wall. Once news had been received of the attempted coup however, the shinobi who are loyal to the Hokage quickly commenced a secret meeting inside the makeshift house that Yamato cleverly disguised as one of the reconstructed houses in downtown Konoha.

Shikaku made his presence known with a small cough and spoke, "Alright, due to a reliable resource, Yamato and Shizune had informed you of the threat that is about to happen."

"That bastard, Danzo, Hokage-sama should have taken care of that man when he had the chance!" Shouted one of the ninjas, some nodded their heads, Shikaku merely shook his head.

"No, the Hokage knows how grave the situation in Konoha has become, just with the money for reconstruction alone, the resources that Konoha is dishing out is being stretched thin. Hokage-sama didn't want to confront Danzo as he knew just how every ninja in Konoha right now is vital to the village. This puts Danzo on a better edge than Hokage-sama. Danzo is in command of one-third of our ANBU forces. Naruto-sama acknowledges that he needs all the helping hands he can get, and that's why he's been lenient on the man. Simply taking care of that war hawk would have put this village into a worst case scenario that would have left us more vulnerable than we are right now."

One of the shinobi then remarked, "Then what are we supposed to do? Sit back and let this happen? I won't allow it!"

Shikaku replied, "Who says we will allow it either? We are Konoha Shinobi, and therefore, anything hostile instigated against us would be met with the most proper course of action. Men, as a member of the council of elders, we are going to retaliate."

The shouts of affirmation were heard from the shinobi inside the room, Shikaku placed a hand under his chin as he began to think,

"Yamato, since we can't take the fights to the streets, we're taking their stupid usurpation matters on the outer walls. I want you to be there and deliver enough chaos with your abilities so the rest can take them out when their in their most vulnerable. Genma, Raido, you two will be with Shizune to guard one possible target that might turn the favour more to Danzo."

All three nodded as Shikaku continued, "There is an important factor that must be kept protected as she is the weight to tip the scales, I want the three of you to guard Tsunade. No doubt if Danzo kills her, it would be a terrible blow to the Sixth."

Shikaku then approached the remaining rookie nine of three years ago. They were tense as the councilman approached them,

"I trust that you will adhere to what I have in mind? Shikamaru mentioned that your age group seemed most affected to this crisis."

They all nodded, and looked at each other, Kiba spoke for them,

"We had a talk about what happened five days ago. We found out what happened to the Uchiha."

Shikaku nodded and then said, "Good, it's good that the generation that will follow us are decisive. That means you're all prepared now. I'm sorry it must be hard, but if you must know, it was even harder for the Hokage to decide. Keep that in mind. Nakama are nakama after all, no matter what happens. Right now, I need all of your help."

They could only obey and wonder what might happen next.

* * *

Summit:

Naruto felt chakra signatures flaring everywhere, just before his sage mode was on the verge of ending. He felt four familiar chakra signatures approaching the landmark at a blistering pace. The Fire Shadow mentioned out loud in front of the delegates, "There are countless chakra signatures around the summit numbering by the hundreds… What's going on?"

The said people looked bewildered at the Hokage for a moment, until one Samurai stopped in front of them after a long dash and spoke, "Mifune-sama! There are Konoha Shinobi who are seeking an audience with Hokage-sama! They say it is urgent business!"

The Fire Shadow raised his left eyebrow in wonder. What could have brought a team from Konoha here that was urgent business? It seemed utterly important and worthy of his attention if they needed shinobi to deliver the news instead of messenger birds.

"I'll entertain them, send them in, the other Kages can discuss the battle plans without me for a moment. I need to know what's going on in the village if this is that important."

Mifune disagreed, "No, as the commander-in-chief of this alliance, you are needed to discuss the battle plans with us, Hokage-dono. It is your pivotal role."

Naruto nodded; there was no turning back now. As the presented head of the alliance, he could not afford to state his absence in such a critical moment. The pressure that he could feel from the responsibilities was overwhelming, Naruto wanted to rest, he wanted a break from this responsibility. He wanted to run!

As soon as the Samurai had escorted the four ninja inside, Naruto's eyes widened in surprise as his jaw slightly dropped.

In front of him, were a tired and dishevelled troop consisting of Shikamaru, Sakura, Neji and Hinata. Naruto, wanted to ask if they were alright, but the urgency written on their faces forced Naruto to stop. These people were going to report to him on what had forced them to run all the way from Konoha.

"What's happening?" Naruto asked, his voice, commanding and concerned of his subordinates. The four ninjas, in the midst of their heavy breathing, stood in attention as Shikamaru, the assigned team leader, reported to Naruto in a courteous manner, "Danzo-sama is instigating a coup d'état. He has forces stationed outside. The number of their forces are undetermined. Sai reported to us that he's planning to assassinate you."

Naruto stood there for a moment, now he really needed to sit down, all this events playing on such short notice was driving him mad. A pain familiar to any Kage had surged in his head. How he wished he didn't have taken the seat in the first place! The blonde sighed as he sat down, massaging his temples in frustration.

"Thanks for the heads up, Shikamaru, rest for a while here."

The Raikage eyed the Hokage as his gaze narrowed on the Fire Shadow, "What's the meaning of this, Hokage-dono?"

Naruto gave a simple reply, "I'm as confused as you are."

Mifune then looked at his two personal guards and nodded, the leader of Iron Country then looked at Naruto and spoke, "You are now the head of this Six-village Alliance, as it stands, any intention of harm to the supreme commander must be met with swift retaliation. Therefore, Hokage-dono, I am willing to lend you my men."

Naruto inwardly cursed, the burdens were piling up, one problem after another. He seemed to somewhat glare at the leader of Iron for putting such faith upon him. He didn't want to be part of this at a crucial rate. As far as he knew, it would feel like he was betraying the teachings Jiraiya had left for him; what Nagato had entrusted to him. Naruto loved his teacher, and for him to be in this crucial moment, it was frightening to think about showing his back to the trust and words of his former master. It was unfair for the man!

'_Naruto, why do ninja fight?'_

_His master's voice spoke to him, asking a question that had a simple answer, "To protect their precious people!"_

_The blonde mentioned with a wide grin that put the sunlight to shame._

_Jiraiya eyed him with a curious gaze then gave a slight smirk, ruffling his dear apprentice's head. Naruto looked on in a confused stare, wondering what was his master's gesture before._

"_The lives of humans are strange, Naruto. In nature, we are probably savages on crack. We have the ability to think, control our instincts and adapt. Yet, we can't completely get over them, our instincts. Reasoning is a given to us. Then again, ninja tend to go by the saying 'Kill one, save a thousand'."_

"_I don't get it." Was the blonde's reply, tilting his head and scratched it with his right hand. Jiraiya laughed all the same as he sat down near the blonde, the two of them took a break after an intense day of training, Jiraiya sat down beside the blonde as they both stared on the orange sunset._

"_Neither do I. But that's just what part of being human is… We aren't perfect creatures, but we are closer to the level that other animals can't grasp."_

"_No, I meant that thing, 'Kill one, save a thousand.'" Naruto interjected. Jiraiya seemed to scratch his head as well as Naruto continued, "I mean, what's the point of killing someone and saving a thousand if it won't even get to that number? That's stupid!"_

_Jiraiya laughed even further of his apprentice's approach to this specific topic. "So you consider those you fight as a part of that group of a thousand?"_

_Naruto nodded his head and replied, "Of course! They're human aren't they? Everyone deserves a chance to live! Look at Gaara!"_

_Jiraiya seemed pleased to this and in his curiosity of the blonde's logic, he asked Naruto, one simple question, "Then what about those people that WANT to hurt your precious people?"_

"_You mean like Kabuto?" Asked Naruto, Jiraiya nodded, Naruto seemed a loss for words at that moment. He never really thought this through. He hated Kabuto, as much as Orochimaru. They were the ones that taught him a lesson that made him angry at himself._

_Kabuto betrayed his trust. Orochimaru killed the Sandaime. Old man, kind and understanding Sandaime, Orochimaru killed him, and sought Sasuke as a new body. He hated the snake bastard._

"_Makes you want to kill that person, huh?"_

_Naruto looked at his master and nodded. Jiraiya smiled, "You understand well, Naruto. So what will happen if by chance, you encounter Orochimaru? Are you just going to talk to him and ask Sasuke to free him? What about Akatsuki? Are you just going to talk to them and let you be off?"_

"_I'll fight them." Was Naruto's firm reply, Jiraiya couldn't detect the hesitation in his apprentice's voice. It was unwavering, so calm yet so full of determination and grit. The older man then, for the second time that day, ruffled his apprentice's hair._

"_That's right, when everything seems like it's falling apart in talks, there's only one thing that Ninja do best to prove their point. People fight for what they believe is right. When all talks end, there's only fighting that remains. We are the people that will bring our world to a new age." Jiraiya mentioned and continued, "Killing is a sin, Naruto. You know this, I know this. However, shinobi live a life of battle, of death. We've been oriented on this when we were in the academy. However, never for once, think that all life is expendable. All life is precious, no one is a tool. Do you understand that? We aren't Kami, but we are creatures given intellect and free will. However when a wrong is done to us in the first place, then don't back down. Face it head on…"_

"_And fight! Strife is born when one asserts their aggression. Konoha isn't like that. We are a village of diplomacy that has a military for protection." _Naruto mentioned to himself as he got up and mentioned to Mifune, "Alright, have your samurai on standby on each of the entrances, I'm sending a recon force on each entrance to the main building, I'll determine the number of the forces that Danzo has."

The Mizukage looked at that steel gaze that the Fire Shadow had outwards, she then looked at Mifune and frowned. Mifune intends to test the Fire Shadow in leadership. Up until now, the Hokage had declared that he was not suitable to be the supreme commander for the alliance. The Fire Shadow perhaps foresaw how the events would lead to a failure of the alliance if he assumed command. Then why would Mifune still entrust the safety of his men to a Kage not even a few months into power? The only logical answer was that the leader of Iron Country was testing Naruto's ability in leadership and strategy.

"These are your men, Hokage! Even if they are a faction not from yours, they are still Ninja of your village! Are you willing to destroy them to stop this!?" The Lightning Shadow then pointed to the Hokage who didn't flinch as he placed his hands together and began to mould chakra. The surge of the energy grew around him as the chakra began to circulate around the Hokage as he used a familiar, middle index cross seal.

"Tajuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu! (Multiple Shadow Clone Technique)"

And within the room, hundreds of copies of the Fire Shadow popped into existence as each one of them jumped into every which way to try and determine the size of the force that Danzo had placed.

Naruto turned his head to the Raikage and spoke, his voice was hoarse. The fatigue and backlash of making the jutsu made him tired as sweat fell from his brow.

"My faith in my ninjas is absolute. Root has been an organization independent of the Hokage's administration and ruling. Danzo created the Foundation to have some sort of political power within Konoha. Along with it though, were under the table deals that Danzo has made without the notice of the Sandaime Hokage. The most memorable to me, was his meddling in the affairs of Amegakure."

The blonde then continued, "My sensei said once; cry for the enemies you have slain, and offer one thousand lamentations for your comrades who betrayed you."

The Raikage was then silenced as Naruto turned his back on the Kages, Mifune glanced at the Fire Shadow that stood before him, his back present as he walked towards his soldiers and helped them get rested in one part of the room, talking to the one with the hair held back in a ponytail.

* * *

Outside:

The explosion on the western entrance of the imposing landmark echoed through the skies in a thundering sound. Fuu had approached the area and saw three downed Foundation members taken out by that explosion note. In urgency, the emotionless Root member ran towards his leader and reported the situation.

Once the Root operative reported to their leader, Danzo frowned as he looked towards the structure that housed the meeting inside. Danzo told his men to stand down; it would be far too late to withdraw now, still, numbers were on his side right now, he had approximately four hundred men stationed outside the entrance of the summit venue. If the people from the inside do not realize the numbers that he had, then he would still have that advantage.

An assault like that meant that the attempted coup was discovered. Fuu hadn't known what had particularly leaked the information about Root and its machinations during the five days that had occurred in the absence of the Rokudaime Hokage. Danzo, who knew of Akatsuki's reaction to the summit beforehand, being the summit an event that the said organization would dare not to ignore, thought it would at least cripple the Hokage or even one of the Kages in the process. That foolish leader from Iron would select the Fire Shadow as the head of the alliance for various reasons. For one, the protection of the jinchuuriki placed on Naruto was a thing that the Sandaime implemented well and continued on to Tsunade's reign, the protection given to Naruto brought an example to the other villages on how they should handle their super soldier programs. Naruto, who has barely shown any results in complete sync with the Kyuubi, was their result. A failure, Konoha's jinchuuriki program wasn't adequate. Naruto wasn't taught on how to handle the bijuu, the Sandaime had forbidden anyone to do so as it would only bring about danger to both Naruto and the village. Danzo scowled at that, the Sandaime was foolish in not letting such an egg hatch in his care. Naruto would have grown to an ideal super soldier. Completely loyal to the interests of Konoha, this super soldier would have been a weapon formidable even against two bijuu; the Kyuubi was the strongest bijuu after all. Why not capitalize on such a gem?

Another reason that the Hokage would be selected was how they had handled Akatsuki before. Konoha, as well as Suna, had been waging skirmishes against Akatsuki for the longest time, a span of three years. While Kumo didn't know the existence of Akatsuki until Nii Yugito, host of the two-tailed monster cat, had been captured by them; that or the country turned a blind eye on the said organization as it had not affected the village in any way, it had no experience in handling the organization. Right now, of the major powers, the biggest military powerhouse that was currently at the top, with Konoha invaded and almost destroyed, Kumo is the biggest and most powerful of nations, having resources based on mining of precious metals. Kumo had the firepower and brunt of the alliance, but it did not have any strategy implemented to face Akatsuki, who currently held almost all of the bijuu. Iwa was another problem, according to Danzo's spy network; Iwa had dealings with Akatsuki, used them quite often, and paid a hefty amount for mission work. Discovering of how much of a commodity was Akatsuki to Iwa; Mifune would not place his trust on Onoki, the Earth Shadow.

"Fuu, return to your post. As alarming as the leakage of information from Root is, this is a crucial moment now; we can't afford to back down. What with them knowing of our position, we just have to strike when they least expect it."

It was then that numerous clones of the Fire Shadow had swarmed from the summit venue going out and jumping in every which way.

Danzo had once again, recalled one trait that the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki had gained upon his return to the leaf village.

The nine-tails host had learned the proper use of Kage Bunshin.

Realization dawned on the leader of the Foundation and turned his head to Fuu, "Inform Torune, that under any circumstances, should they not reveal themselves in front of the clones that the Hokage has made! If those blasted clones discover the fighting force that we have, they are sure to come up with a counter-offensive!" Danzo commanded his most elite and Fuu nodded, Danzo had looked as the swarm of clones began going about in a random way, scoping the large area and seeking out any ROOT operative.

Danzo had hoped that the numbers game would definitely intimidate the Kages, what with Mifune and the Samurai being neutral parties, he had imagined that they would not get into the conflict of shinobi.

It should be noted that Naruto had the ability to produce one thousand clones at the maximum and that the clones had a wide range that they can cover.

It would only be a matter of time before his forces would be discovered.

* * *

Summit:

The waiting game was always tense; Naruto sat in lotus position, the tips of each of his finger touching each other. As he waits for the influx of information relay from his clones, he focused on gathering more nature chakra from the atmosphere, as the delegation per country began to talk.

Gaara took initiative, "Before we take care of this nuisance, are we all willing to form an alliance now?"

The Mizukage glanced to her side and spoke to the Raikage, "I seem to recall you are opposed to the idea, Raikage-dono."

The Raikage remained silent as he stared upon the quiet and concentrating form of the Hokage. The Lightning Shadow then turned towards the Mizukage and said, "I refuse to let Akatsuki have their way with us anymore. I will not allow that madman to succeed in his plans. If this is the only way to oppose the power of the seven bijuu in Madara's forces, then I have no other choice."

It was surprising however, that the Hokage had been right about his brother still being alive. Konoha nins do tend to know more than the average shinobi. Perhaps they had been doing right in waging those skirmishes against Akatsuki and sending all of those request aids to the different villages in handling the organization. The Raikage seemed at a loss for a moment then. It was foolish to have left an organization like that unattended for so many years, and now, the effect of their struggle had born fruit to an ugly situation.

The Water Shadow began to share her idea to the leaders, "If we are to stop this 'Tsuki no Me' plan, then we must not, by any means, allow Madara to take into possession the Hachibi and the Kyuubi. Right now, our priority is to secure the Hachibi and hide it away from him. With the host of the Nine Tails with us, the only thing left to do is to keep them from the clutches of Madara."

The Mizukage then made it a point to emphasize her opinion stating that the two remaining hosts were a pivotal to the success of the war. If they could secure the Eight Tails Host along with the Nine Tails, then this pointless war would be determined immediately.

The Earth Shadow then replied, "Madara might have a plan or a jutsu to make use of those beasts. Seven of the Nine bijuu under his command is unimaginable. If ever we fight this, without a veritable amount Fuinjutsu artisans or any bloodline to control those beasts, we have a long and difficult war ahead of us."

An idea then stormed through the mind of the Tsuchikage, "How about we incorporate the Hachibi and the Kyuubi as one of our forces?"

To this, the Wind Shadow immediately denied the Tsuchikage's request, "Unthinkable. Protecting them is a vital part of this war."

To this, the Kazekage continued, "I have a suspicion that he's using this war to lure out the Hosts of the Eight and Nine Tails, what with his current weakened state and the few remaining members of Akatsuki, even if he succeeded, the risks would certainly be high."

The Mizukage and the Raikage seemed to agree to that as well.

"At any rate, we can only deploy them at a most crucial rate. Besides, my brother is not one to follow instructions. A wild card like him will only bring confusion on the battlefield."

Gaara glanced to Naruto for a second thinking of the same thing, until he looked back to the Raikage.

"Four Hundred and twenty…" Naruto then stood up, as the red rings from his eyelids appeared once again as his eyes opened, he said to the people in the room, as the clones from outside began to dispel, one by one.

"Four Hundred ANBU troops, all from the Root Division, and a suggestion to our current discussion, I won't let this war drag on. Besides, Madara has a Jikan-kuukan Ninjutsu (Time-Space Ninja arts) he can travel in that of the speed of light or even faster, It's impossible to escape from him for very long, he can cover a fair amount of distance with that technique of his, if he's going to target us as well as the Hachibi, then we need to have at least more than just a platoon for guards, particularly those of ANBU captains, Akatsuki would push for us the moment the first sign of battle commences. If we intend to put a stop to this, then we would need to take into account of Madara's abilities as well as his remaining accomplices. I don't want to sit around and be protected, I'm a pivotal part of this war, I'd be damned if I just stand by. Madara also issued to negotiate with us, he wanted us be presented to him, and although he may have an ability to control the bijuu it might possibly have some sort of backlash to him if he wanted to go through all this trouble to inform us."

He then turned his head towards the leader of Iron and spoke, "Prepare an appropriate amount of samurai, Mifune-dono. Do Samurai have any long range specialists as well?"

Mifune nodded, "We have long range specialists for Samurai that excel in Kyudo (Way of the bow), what do you intend to do with them?"

Naruto began his instruction, "Place them on the highest perch on each of your landmarks and we'll force them out of formation ripe for the Samurai to mow down. They may have Genjutsu specialists in each side of the gate, so we at least need someone to immediately break down a Genjutsu specialist per side of the gate. Can you all trust me with this battle plan?"

The delegates looked at the Hokage's sharp gaze and listened to the firm resolve in his voice. It was funny in some sense, they feel like they could trust the Hokage that well, and the plan that the Hokage had gave, it was actually pretty good. The Hokage then glanced to the tactician from Konoha and asked, "Well, Shikamaru, what do you think?"

Shikamaru smirked, "Why are you asking me, Hokage-sama? If you want my opinion, then I'd say it could work. Anyway, the needed rest is all that we need to get up and fight again."

Naruto grinned at Shikamaru and then turned his head back towards his delegates, "Then my question now is, will any of you lend me your aid? Or will you leave me alone to deal with this problem?"

The Raikage gave a grunt and turned his head, "The sooner we deal with this nuisance the faster we can locate and secure my brother, time is precious, and the more we waste our time here, the closer Akatsuki is to their goal. I will give you my aid, however, after this war is over, we part our ways, Hokage."

"I don't expect you to, Raikage." The Fire Shadow remarked with a simple grin, he then looked at Gaara who nodded and said to him, "I owe my life and ideals to you, Hokage-dono. Consider me forever in your debt, as Kazekage and representative of Sunagakure, my strength is yours."

The Kazekage had extended his hand to the Sixth Fire Shadow as gesture of a handshake. Naruto smiled and shook his hand with Gaara's. Once they let go, Naruto turned to face at the Mizukage.

The Mizukage gave a sly smile at the Hokage and leaned in closer to the blonde, their faces merely centimetres apart, Naruto gulped and adjusted the noose of his clothing as the Mizukage mentioned to him, "You are indeed a very reliable Hokage and even more as a man. The world should have more people such as you, Ho-ka-ge-dono."

The water shadow then gave a wink to the Fire Shadow who merely laughed nervously, earning quite a few incinerating stares from his subordinates, from the pink-haired one and the female Hyuuga and from the boy with glasses that was the Mizukage's escort.

"Che, if teaming up with the son of the yellow flash is the only out of this situation then who am I to argue in the end?" The Tsuchikage merely said as his two subordinates jumped down from the ceiling and stood beside the Earth Shadow, Naruto merely nodded and then said, "Good, then I'll take the eastern gate, and since I have more of my ninja present at this moment, two of the Kages will take over one side of the entrance. I'll handle the eastern side since Danzo is there."

Mifune then walked towards the blonde and spoke to him, "Very well then, I shall accompany you to your side, Hokage-dono."

Naruto smirked and then said to the leader, "Let's go, then!"

As each of the leaders split into three directions, the Samurai had begun to move per instructions of the Hokage, with their leader's authorization.

Outside:

A domino effect happens when one piece of the set falls down, it leads to another, to another, then to another, until every single block of those things fall down. Danzo didn't know who had started the tipping of the initial piece, but if that leakage of information had been spread, it was most likely that Konoha had already organized to stage a counterattack on each of the gates, with the Konoha shinobi pushing back his forces from the streets of the recently reconstructed downtown. Danzo held his cards close to his chest now. Everything will make or break in this very moment.

A spike of chakra had interrupted his thinking as he looked above, the skies of Tetsu were dull and grey. There were no open spaces in the sky to view the stars at night, only clouds that snowed hard. So why then, did he see something akin to stars as he continued to gaze up?

Realization soon dawned on him and mentioned to all the stationed platoons, "Move out!"

The ninjas scrambled out of the way as the arrows had pierced the ground. Two ninja, who were unlucky enough to be caught in the pelting rain of metal and wood, were pierced on the head, the arrow tip penetrating to the porcelain, ceramic, ivory white mask, instantly killing them. As another pelt of arrows descended from above and had pierced numerous parts of their bodies. Danzo gritted his teeth, as he too, dashed and avoided the raining death, his troops clearly soon became disorganized as the flight of arrows had made them scramble out of their position.

One particular member of root however, decided enough was enough and clasped his hands together for a sequence of seals,

"Doton: Doryuuheki! (Earth Release: Earth Wall Formation)"

A landmass of the earth wall erupted from the ground and curved upwards acting as a barrier from the hail of arrows that descended to their area. Taking shelter from the hail of death, Danzo turned his head for a moment as he saw what seemed to be the opening of the gates of hell.

* * *

Konoha:

"Commence the counterattack." Shikaku gave his command as the ninjas began to move out with Yamato heading for the northern gate.

Shikaku looked up in the clear skies of Konoha that day. All of these instabilities causing around his village, Shikaku could only surmise that something big is about to happen if it involved Danzo showing face to the public. Things were spiralling out of control, something was plunging this world to anarchy, but lest he wanted to die, Shikaku would rather go down fighting.

What was supposed to be a normal day in the village hidden in the leaves would turn out to be bloody. Not even the history book will ever remember this day, for the secret war within Konoha was reaching its climax.

* * *

Iron Country:

"DANZO!"

Once the war hawk had heard his name, he immediately recognized that voice, the voice of the person that had vehemently denied him of his seat.

Once he discretely put out his head for a moment, Danzo saw a battalion of Samurai, wearing their famous bulky white armour and helmets, bulldozing their way towards him. The Fire Shadow in the middle, his right hand had with him, a Fuuma Shuriken. The ninjas of Root scattered, deploying in each side of the earth wall, dashing towards their target, the Hokage.

As they body flickered all around, the Samurai began to dash forward, pumping chakra to their feet and swords, they parried the strikes coming from the Root ANBU, as the frontline swordsmen swung their swords high, cutting down the first five Root members that came in contact with their swords. Disembowelling two Root members and decapitating another one, the legion of the Samurai were charging through Danzo's lines of defence. The Hokage had jumped, his Fuuma Shuriken fully opened and with his wind chakra surging like the Divine Wind, he threw the menacing projectile through the earth wall, severing it horizontally forcing the ninja who had taken shelter there to move out as the earth wall collapsed from the sheer force of the wind chakra.

The swordsmen then separated, intent of taking down Danzo's forces swatting away kunai and shuriken with their swords and armour.

Naruto had met with Danzo face to face.

"I knew I should have dealt with you… Back then when you didn't have your abilities." Danzo spoke in a condescending tone to the Hokage, who then replied, "And allowed someone like you? To be Hokage? To deliver your own citizens to their deaths? To force more hatred on our nation? I don't think so."

"I have made those decisions in the best interests of our village." Danzo remarked

"Interfering with the political situation in Ame does not make it for our best interests! You saw what happened! You saw the effect of your actions on the day Pein invaded!" Naruto recalled those horrifying hours, those events that lead to one disaster after another.

"All because of the Sandaime's teachings." Danzo replied in a clam manner, opening his uncovered eye.

"Peace does not exist inside diplomacy, naïve child. Humans do not have it in their nature to sympathize with those not in their community. Survival of the fittest. We as ninja, continue to live in the life of misery and hate, all for the sake of our village. We are coated in blood, only to bring about a new age for us to walk forward. We can't stop and wait for the weak, death and violence is the way of the ninja. Petty words and bonds do not mean a thing."

Naruto growled at the man, "Who are you to lecture me about human nature!?"

Naruto instantly appeared above the bandaged man, fist cocked back. Letting his punch fly to the man, who made dashed further away from Naruto, the snow was instantly scattered every which way and Danzo said to Naruto, "It would be terrible if I was hit with that punch of yours. My sources say you learned a style that could deliver quite a good amount of damage that doesn't require you to hit your opponent in close range."

Naruto didn't stop there as his hands clasped together to perform his trademark jutsu, "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu! (Shadow Clone Technique)"

Three clones popped into existence around Danzo, who jumped and with his only arm, created a half seal and blew fire from his lips,

"Katon: Housenka (Fire Release: Mythical Fire Flower)"

The fireballs instantly struck the three clones and dispelled them quickly, Danzo landed on the ground gracefully, Naruto was quick to appear from the smoke, the distance that he had created was instantly closed.

Naruto then let out a powerful punch aiming for Danzo's head. Danzo raised his available arm and created a seal.

Danzo was instantly replaced by a patch of snow once Naruto's fist went through the man's head. Naruto turned around and saw Danzo to his side, his Sharingan eye unravelled from the bandages for all to see.

Naruto didn't once look surprised from Danzo.

"I thought as much as the mastermind of the Uchiha Massacre would do something such as this." Naruto remarked, his eyes unmoving from the man.

Danzo seemed surprised at that, "How much do you know?"

"About enough dirt that could cause the public outrage to have your head on the platter." Naruto replied; Madara wasn't exactly a good keeper of secrets.

Danzo visibly frowned at this, "Then I can't have you roaming in this world with a secret that big."

Danzo flicked his hands, about to strike Naruto with a more powerful Fire Jutsu, until Naruto had appeared at his back in a blinding speed. Danzo jumped as Naruto was about to deliver a sweeping kick. Danzo then inhaled deeply and shouted,

"Katon: Karyu Endan (Fire Release: Fire Dragon Napalm)"

A stream of red hot flames escaped from Danzo's mouth, as it took the image of a dragon head surging through the atmosphere and collided against Naruto as the super heated flames consumed the snow on the ground, melting it and evaporating the liquid.

Naruto had appeared amidst the flames, the hem of his haori swaying and dancing in the hot and colds winds besides the dancing orange flames of Danzo's jutsu. His sage eyes seemed glowing as he was standing in the conflagration of the Karyu Endan.

Danzo inwardly cursed, there was no way he could take on this boy without another arm; he was still incomplete. He can't be allowed to die here!

Retaining his stoic expression, Danzo still had another bargaining chip in his hand. With his available arm, Danzo held up another hand seal and slammed his hand on the ground, revealing a set of birds that each had goggles on their heads.

"Uzumaki Naruto. You will hand over the title of Hokage to me, or I shall kill one person that is very important to you."

Naruto instantly froze; Danzo's simple smile crept upon his face. Danzo then said to the Fire Shadow, "Yes, Tsunade had been a very good friend of yours, am I correct? It would be a shame if she were… Disposed off."

Danzo then approached Naruto who were balling his hands into fists, the stress from earlier was rising again, and one by one, they were piling like unwanted garbage.

Danzo then continued, "Just like your mother, Uzumaki Kushina… Such a beauty, to bad she had discovered my affairs within Amegakure that time… If she had not, the Foundation would have left her alone."

Naruto's anger quickly spiked to new levels, as he could feel himself getting lost in the sea of hatred and malice. He wanted one thing that made him understand Sasuke's emotion. Somebody killed his mother, a mother who he hadn't known, someone who could have provided him the love of a parent, someone who could have told him stories, sung for him at night, and embrace him when he had nightmares.

Danzo took it all away.

_**HE WANTED REVENGE!**_

Once the man had closed in on Naruto, awaiting his approval. In a swift move, Naruto's right hand flickered and immediately went to grab the man by the throat, contempt and anger was gushing within him like a broken dam, as the waters of malice raged furiously within him.

_SNAP_

"All your atrocities, all of the pe**ople that you have wronged... It ends today!"**

Danzo kicked the blonde by the gut that made Naruto flinch, as Danzo had managed to jump and had sent the messenger summons fly towards Konoha.

Naruto didn't care, right now, at the very core of his thoughts, he wanted to kill Danzo!

His golden irises began to change colour, taking that of scarlet red as his pupil began to contort and another line grew over the horizontal frog eyes, growing perpendicular to the normal sage eyes, changing to that of a cross. The whisker marks on his cheeks began to etch deeper, as his claws grew and sharpened. His canines growing as well as he bellowed to Danzo. What made Danzo wary however was the denser chakra that seemed to have been present when Naruto had transformed to his six tailed state. The potent energy was filling the air that seemed to permeate with nothing but pure killing intent.

"**I'm going to kill you!"**

* * *

Mindscape:

"_**Kuh… What is this? The strengthened seal is siphoning my chakra to a level that was when it was weakened… And that chakra… It's neutralizing mine as well!" **__The Kyuubi thought in panic, its chakra was being siphoned and converted at a faster rate, and to make matters worse, the potency of his very chakra was being cancelled by the nature chakra that Naruto had gathered earlier._

* * *

Kakashi paused for a moment, as he felt that spike of chakra emanating from Naruto, in panic; he had approached Hinata to describe to him what was happening with the chakra coils of their leader.

Hinata nodded, focusing her doujutsu on Naruto's abdomen.

She could see the free flow of chakra in the chakra pathways. The red energy seemed to lose potency as it began to mix with the chakra that had some sort of green hue inside clashing and cancelling each other out. Just then, it stabilized itself, as the four energies, nature, physical, spiritual and youki began mingling with one another. Hinata had said to Kakashi, "N-Naruto-kun has synchronized with his bijuu!"

Kakashi looked incredulous at that moment, as he stared on their beloved leader.

Naruto had outstretched his hand. The red chakra obeyed his will as the red chakra literally stretched from Naruto's hand in an open palm and grabbed Danzo by the waist. Naruto dragged the older man on the ground as he threw Danzo to the other side with his strength, Naruto wasn't done yet, and within his hand, blue energy began to contort and formed a spherical shape on his right palm, as wisps of chakra began spinning. The orb grew in size until it was about his height, and raised it above his head.

Naruto then disappeared reappeared on top of Danzo. Danzo wasted no time in pulling off another technique from his arsenal. He had heard Orochimaru had developed this technique in order to escape a sure hit attack from someone like Itachi. It was an advanced version of the Kawarimi, though it had notoriety for large consumption of chakra, it served its purpose.

Naruto then slammed the giant Rasengan on the crippled old man as it began to tore into him, grinding him to paste as the unstable circulation of chakra gave an earth shaking explosion, vibrating and tossing away any loose object not stuck on the ground.

The ground that the technique had smashed into was nothing more than a crater left, and standing on ground zero of his attack was the Hokage, who vanished and body flickered outside, at speeds that many would find near the levels as that of the Yondaime. He had detected Danzo's chakra, Naruto's eyes widened as he saw the man struggling to his feet.

Before he could make a move towards Danzo, he saw two ninja, each on his side, about to intercept him. Naruto, in his fit of rage, directed his anger on the Root ANBU, mercilessly slashed the one on his left with his left claw upwards tearing of his mask and surgically cutting through his throat and eyes. Naruto then flickers his right hand; a Kunai had popped from his sleeve and shoved it on the ninja's forehead to his right. He then retracted the kunai from the dead ANBU and then looked at Danzo with that murder laden eyes of his.

The ninja fell in heap, and Naruto raised his right hand, red chakra began to take the form of a clawed hand and grew in size Naruto slammed it down, instantly going underground. The ground that it travelled into collapsed in a line that the chakra travelled as it popped from the ground like a geyser and grabbed Danzo by the waist. Naruto pulled the crippled old man back with much force dragging him to the ground at a speed of a freight train. Naruto held his foot out and stomped on the bruised and battered body of Danzo his Kunai poised to strike the man dead.

Naruto's inhibition about killing was soon forgotten, he didn't care about the flying swallows anymore. He just wanted one thing that would satisfy him of his bloodlust right now.

Danzo's head.

To be continued…

* * *

Well here's chapter six, a long time to update but I'm still jobless and out hunting, I've read the current chapters from the manga and I must say, (shakes head), When I went to a Naruto centred forum just the other day, these arguments kept piling up like flies on freshly ejected shit and trolls everywhere insulting one after another. Honestly, people tend to read in more than what is necessary sometimes. :/ Also, rants about the current manga chapter? (Eye rolls) I don't know. I won't jump to conclusions yet. Still too early to say anything, though what I will say about this is for both all of you Sakura and Hinata fans_, Love can make you do the most ridiculous, selfish or selfless of things, love isn't logical, it doesn't have to be nor will it be_. Also, I may not update again for another two weeks. Job searching is tough, and with good hospitals waiting for volunteers first before finally hiring them, then I guess I'll just have to volunteer.

And for all of those wanting a powerful Naruto, I've dabbled on the fact on the chapter where Nagato and Naruto first talked with Nagato impaling Naruto on the stomach with the chakra rods. I have my own theories about it, and I'll try to come up more with this once again. Here's what _some_ of you wanted, as I read a particularly scalding review about underestimating/overestimating Naruto. Rest assure though, power comes at a price.


	7. Darkest Emotion

The Hokage's Will

Chapter Seven: Darkest Emotion

* * *

If there was one word to describe Danzo, then it was devious. The man was shrewd and ruthless. He has a distinct fanaticism to Konoha's military might, being the most powerful throughout the elemental countries as proven during the first shinobi world war. Why wouldn't it be? The village hidden in the leaves was established by the two most powerful clans before the formation of what was to be called now as Fire Country. This, along with the bountiful resources that Fire Country had in agriculture, fishery and the like, had established the nation as a powerful force to be reckoned with.

Danzo wanted to maintain that power and saw that the teachings of the Sandaime as too lenient and diplomatic. To him, there was no way to solve conflict without proper military intervention. He had seen war, he had been a part of it, he knew that killing was a necessary evil, and he would willingly do so again, if it meant Konoha would remain at the top.

It was worthy to note that the teachings of the Sandaime were stemmed from Hashirama and Tobirama of the Senju, the Shodaime and Nidaime respectively, and that those that followed after Hiruzen were also followers of their ideals. From Minato to Naruto, these leaders of Konoha had been/are, without a doubt, shining examples of their time.

Due to the images and personalities gained from each of these three leaders, the villagers and ninja alike grew to follow them in a heartbeat. Minato, after the third shinobi war, had been graced as Konoha's finest. Nothing or no one could have been compared to the Fourth Hokage. He was a prime and excellent example of what a shinobi should be. That was why the people loved him, why they followed him to an extent that bordered to fanaticism.

But even with the Yondaime, Danzo could not be convinced of this. Danzo saw the Yondaime as a fool who followed the teachings of his rival, he views the Yondaime as a weak hearted fool that could not capitalize on the sanctions given to Earth Country and possibly rid themselves of a nuisance for good after the Third War. That was why he was denied of the position to succeed the seat after him, instating Danzo as Hokage meant going to war just after the Yondaime had sealed the Kyuubi into his own son.

Shikaku had wondered what had occurred to Danzo's mind why he wanted to take matters this early on. Why couldn't he have taken the seat in a matter of five days that the Rokudaime was away? It might have been that the old war hawk had started his planning from there. He wasn't sure how the other countries would react to this, but he would be sure that it would put Konoha on a bad side if Danzo would succeed. Which he doubts it, an assault on a Kage in the presence of Five Kages no less would be quite idiotic. Danzo should have known that. Or is it that the man had finally grown impatient after years of tolerance under the rule of the Sandaime and the Godaime?

Shikaku would never know, nor would he care to ever find out. To him, Danzo is a criminal now, there was nothing more to be said about the man that had been plotting in the shadows.

Shikaku sat on the tallest building that Yamato had created, intent of observing the skirmishes that are about to take place, he could see Yamato on a fair distance by the northern gate as he stopped, along with him, were Naruto's former classmates.

Yamato then began to weave his hands to a series of seals at a fast rate, he said to the chuunin that were with him, "Do any of you trust me?"

All of them nodded, Yamato merely gave a smirk.

"Then don't move for a second, Kiba-san, Lee-san and Tenten-san. You three will serve as the strike force, I'll provide the distraction."

Yamato had then ended his slew of seals and shouted, "Mokuton: Daijurin no Jutsu! (Wood Release: Great Forest technique)"

Pillars of wood rose on the ground, propelling Kiba, Lee and Tenten straight up, all three of them look at each other as the rest of the pillars began interweaving with one another upwards, with some of them now bending and began barraging the northern gate below.

The Root operatives immediately went out of formation as the pillars began bombarding them at an astronomical rate, down below, Yamato was panting.

"The things I do for my village." The ANBU captain muttered, taking a deep breath and then nodded to the remaining members of Naruto's friends. "Chouji-san, I want you to use your Baika no Jutsu (Multi Size Technique) and serve as artillery while the others get to their work. Shino-san, I want you and Ino-san to serve as back up and you are to engage when you feel the need to, especially Ino-san since she is our medic in this field. Under any circumstance, don't intercept the ninja unless they are blindsided."

As the barrage of the wooden pillars came to a screeching halt, the five ROOT members regrouped and began scaling the bent wooden poles like a ramp. Each member was dashing on their own pillars as the three chuunin up at the summit of this wooden square structure began to prepare.

"Now, let us burn with our flames of youth and drive these people out who threaten the fire of our village!" Lee shouted raising his right hand, to his side, Kiba smirked riding his ever loyal companion, Akamaru, "Well boy, looks like we're going to have to party."

To the Inuzuka's right was Tenten who rolled her eyes; it was so typical of men. Grabbing a small scroll, she unsealed the content inside to reveal a Kusarigama and another scroll that contained a Nodachi.

"Whatever, stop dawdling and let's get this over with!" Tenten jumped as she landed on one of the pillars with Kiba jumping as he shouted, "Yahoo!"

His dog barked in agreeing as the duo jumped below, this time, Kiba was running with Akamaru, both at the same speed. Lee followed suit as he too jumped and somersaulted, landing on the wooden ramp down slope, the pull of gravity accelerating their speeds. They could feel their adrenalin pumping, as their hearts raced as they dashed downwards with the pull of the earth's gravity below, they could feel as if they were freefalling at such speeds with the wind gushing to their faces.

One of the root members in the middle clasped his hands together and formed a seal. "Ninpo: Enmaku (Ninja art: Smokescreen)"

Out of the sleeve of the one in the middle, as his area was soon covered with smoke, To Kiba, it didn't matter, "You can't get away! Gijuu Ninpo: Shikyaku no Jutsu! (Beast Mimicry Ninja Art: Four Legs Technique)"

As soon as he applied the jutsu, Kiba and Akamaru dashed even faster, as the boy squatted to Akamaru's level and dashed on his limbs. Making fair scratch marks on his side of the column. Two members then jumped from the smoke, wearing identical masks just like the one who initiated the smokescreen. Kiba could smell the scent in both of them as they lunged at him from above, Kiba then spun like a drill as did Akamaru to avoid getting assaulted by the two elite members.

"Gatsuuga! (Twin Piercing Fang)"

The two clones prevented their attacks altogether as Kiba stopped to a screeching halt as another member had appeared from underneath the wood this time, popping from the said structure and almost sliced Kiba's head off, who had ducked just in time.

It was then that a gigantic Chouji had appeared behind Kiba who then gathered chakra at the palm of his hands and throttled his hands on the area where Kiba was, "Chouharite! (Mega Palm Thrust)" The piece in front of Kiba shattered plummeting the ANBU with the cat mask down to the ground, Kiba looked back and both he and Akamaru regrouped seeing as the ANBU earlier with the Shadow Clones lunged at him once again, "Shougetsu. (Rising Moon)"

The clones of the ROOT operative swiped at Kiba with their swords sideways from the center, Kiba ducked and immediately stopped when he saw the cat masked ANBU appeared below, about to give a rising vertical slash. Kiba rolled to his side and noticed Akamaru's scent at the top of the clones. The fanged boy then recovered his footing as he dashed straight upwards with his four limbs.

Kiba then appeared this time with Akamaru once again on top, as both master and familiar began spinning like drills again and both began to intertwine this time.

"Tensouga! (Heaven Twin Fang)" The two formed a large drill-like attack easily rivalling as that of the Garouga (Twin Wolf Fang) as the two rammed towards the three shadow clones, dispelling the two clones and with the drill. The gigantic drill then drove the ANBU to the ground in a loud and sickening thud as the attack almost began digging deeper into the hole that the two had created.

With Lee:

As soon as the three of them dashed down, Lee had already prepared to loosen his bandages and had discarded his leg weights; he threw them to the ROOT member that was on his pillar, the man dodged and saw the things fall down as it picked up quite a pile of dust below and even gave a small crater to the ground. The ANBU quickly turned his head around and Lee was already giving a straight flying kick at him.

Lee's dynamic entry was parried however by the man's elbow arm padding. Lee jumped and used a summersault back landing on the wood column. The man eyed Lee carefully underneath his lizard mask; the man seemed unmoving at first until his hand flickered together. Lee wasted no time as the man finished his jutsu and unfurled a Goukakyou no Jutsu straight at him. Lee jumped and evaded the fireball. As went passed him, the elite Root member came upon him with daggers burning from his hand, Lee then kicked the man's forearms to avoid getting incinerated by those things and controlled his trajectory landing just in front of the man.

The Root member he was facing was a Katon expert and not just any Katon expert. It seemed that the man can use Katon at a close range effective enough to be weapon, his chakra was converted to flames as he held on to his dagger. "Katon: Soukoenga (Fire Release: Twin Tiger Blaze Fang)"

However once Chouji had started to shake things up with his Chouharite, Lee saw the man distracted for a moment. Quick to capitalize, Lee sped up, and in a blink of an eye, the gap between him and the man was cut short, Lee then gave a straight jab at the man's chest that had flinched from the pain. The man staggered but regained his footing, spinning around with his daggers in his hands; the flames arced in a wide angle almost grazing Lee at the cheek and at his flack jacket. Lee inwardly cursed the burning pain that he felt from his abdomen and cheek. The man then stopped, spun the dagger in his left hand in a reverse grip and then he gave forward thrust of his daggers straight at Lee who elbowed the man's left elbow drove a knee on the man's gut, the man staggered back as Lee had jumped once again and spun around.

"Konoha Senpuu! (Leaf Whirlwind)"

The man blocked with his forearm, but Lee did a reversal once his kick was parried. He used the halting force of the block and then reversed his spin, going for a low sweep kick that forced the man to fall Lee wasn't done yet, and he held the man by the elbow and disarmed his and spun around doing the same to his left before delivering a straight kick to the chest. Lee jumped down loosening his bandages even further plummeting down below as he went after the man, his bandages coming lose,

"Hachimon Tonkou, Daichimon, Kaimon: Kai! (Eight Gates Opening, First Gate, Limit Gate: Open)"

He felt the limiters in his muscles and chakra break away as the bandages unfurled and began to wrap on the Katon user whose weapons were clearly off from his hand. Lee had managed to reach the person and then began hold the man by the waist as the ANBU member was wrapped by the bandages like a cocoon.

Lee then began to spin around like a top, spinning faster and faster until they looked like a miniature tornado. Wind currents were picked up fast as Lee drove the man below to the ground.

"Omote Renge! (Primary Lotus)"

**BOOM!**

With Tenten:

Tenten threw her Kusarigama at the Root member with his sword drawn out, the member deflected the sickle with ease, Tenten pulled back the chain of the Kusarigama and the man still dodged. The man then accelerated his pace going directly to Tenten at such short notice, his sword brandished to his front as the sun glistened and shone its light to Tenten, casting her into his illusion.

"Magen: Shiranui (Demonic Illusion: Phosphorescent light)"

In that moment, Tenten saw what appeared to be a dancing ball of light as the image of the man contorted into a wavy pattern, going around her vision as he toyed with her senses. Tenten was never really good at Genjutsu, in fact she wasn't very talented in that field on her own as she, as Gai had trained her, was a long range expert who had improved on weapons training since invasion of the Sand and Sound. Besides, to her field, Genjutsu would likely cause more problems in her weapons training. She was trained to adapt to every single weapon she could think of, and that meant her studies in each field continued to be met with training for hours on end. From swords, axes to spears, it was too much already to do more than that.

Tenten, with her Nodachi in her right hand, blocked the white light that seemed to flicker and dance in her eyes. As she heard the high pitched sound of metal clashing against metal, she felt a sudden, painful pushing force pushing her at her back, she felt her feet lost the object she was supposed to stand on, she saw her vision as blurry, the sounds she heard were only ringing as if it was a high pitched tune that was about to destroy her eardrums, as the ringing continued to vibrate in her ear. The flicks and dances of the wisp, as she named, made its way towards at the top of her head, but her senses, her visions came to a sudden abruption, when one clear sound had broken her out of her reverie.

**BOOM!**

She could hear a large slamming of force just beneath her, as she was awakened to her senses, she could see the shattering of wood below and the ANBU black ops agent freefalling towards her. As she looked around a descending splinter of the wooden frame that Yamato built and destroyed by a giant palm from Chouji, descending very close to a wooden platform she could see just to her right. Fixating her descending trajectory, she landed on her feet on the descending pile of wood, and used it as a plank to jump to the platform, she threw the sickle of her Kusarigama at the platform and then swung around the giant symmetrical tree blocks and then with chakra gathered at her feet, stuck herself on a completely perpendicular piece of wood to the ground. The ninja with the owl mask that had cast the illusion earlier at her, chased after her as he jumped and weaved through the wooden blocks. Tenten had let go of her Kusarigama and then grabbed a handful of Kunai, all of them had explosive notes tied to their rings. She bit the Nodachi on the flat part of her blade as she began to run and jump through the massive coils of symmetrical wood, and fired kunai after explosive kunai to the ANBU who seemed unfazed by the impact despite the fact that he was _freaking _close to the to the highly explosive daggers.

That didn't seem to stop the operative as a kunai came merely centimetres away from his mask and exploding on his back. The man was clever; he used the impact to boost his speed and gained in closer to the Kunoichi. Tenten cursed her luck as she grabbed her Nodachi situated between her teeth by the handle as she defended herself from the man. The clashing of blades could be heard below as Tenten and the man clashed swords with one another. She was kicked by the man on her abdomen, as she stumbled back, but not before unsealing a small scroll from her hands and hurled it at the man; the scroll unfurled and revealed a stored seal pattern in the middle.

Tenten then raised her hand in a half ram seal and unfurled a small globular object that seemed to be glued with numerous kunai, there was a small explosive note in the middle that was about to go off.

Another loud explosion was heard and countless shrapnel had exploded as the explosive note went off, triggering the gunpowder in the ball to release the shrapnel from it. In a stifling sensation of pain, the ANBU member felt his footing on the wooden structure fall off, as he could feel his chakra loosing its grip on the wooden structure. As the ROOT member stared upwards, before he completely hit the ground, he saw a giant pole, no, a Tetsu-bo being hurled at him.

Tenten had taken cover after that explosion, as she saw the man was caught of guard. A few more seconds and the man could have had her head, as he saw the man descend from the explosion, with a few Kunai embedded on his chest and abdomen, Tenten seized the opportunity to finish the fight as she gave a jump that would be considered a leap of faith and unfurled another small scroll unsealing it and revealed a Tetsu-bo. She held it between her palms and gripped the weapon firmly. She then swung the heavy object with its tip straight at the man as they began to descend. The weapon had hit the Root member straight at the chest further plummeting them down.

They landed on the ground with a thunderous crash, as the earth below gave small fissures and cracks due to the weight of the weapon, her victim crushed under the weight.

She breathed a sigh of relief as she then looked to her sideways, Kiba and Akamaru were resting under the shade of the wood, as did Lee as they looked upwards. It felt like something was still missing.

To their surprise, another member had quickly appeared at the top, intent on taking down Chouji from the forehead straight down, his sword had glowed blue from his chakra as winds began to pick up.

"Fuuton: Ama no Fuuryuken (Wind Release: Wind Dragon Sword of Heaven)."

The chakra began to stretch and form a sharp blade that was about to descend to Chouji.

Chouji, surprised by the sudden appearance couldn't very well dodge in time, Tenten, Lee and Kiba watched as their friend was about to be sliced down in the middle, until they had seen the man was suddenly surrounded with swarms of insects.

"Hijutsu: Mushidama (Secret Technique: Insect Sphere)."

"I am sorry, I am late. My timing was a little off."

Shino had suddenly appeared on the summit of the wooden structure, hands in his pockets and his back to the enemy, as swarms of his insects enveloped the man that not even a glimpse of hair could be seen.

"I have intervened as I had deemed necessary, per Yamato-Taichou's instructions."

He then brought out his right hand open close to his face, as he said in his monotone voice, "You, who threaten the life of our comrade, shall suffer the wrath of my insects by a thousand fold."

With that, he balled his right hand into a fist as the man's chakra was consumed to an absolute zero as he descended below to the ground, his insects slowly going back to his sleeves.

Chouji dispelled his technique and gave a sigh of relief as he stumbled back. This was the third time he felt that he was going to die. It had been that close when he was about to be severed in half, he was thankful he had someone like Shino on his team.

Ino had arrived below the tree, running through each and everyone of them, checking for injuries. To her right, was Yamato who sat down under the shade of the tree, with that, the initial strike has began they just needed to wait for the remaining Konoha Shinobi to take care of the remaining ROOT problem.

* * *

Tsunade's tent:

Aoba, Shizune, and Genma were nervous. it had been a few minutes since the battle had begun. And by now, the citizens would have noticed the signs already and went back inside. Genma and Aoba were outside as Shizune was beside the Godaime, attending to her needs.

Shizune was nervous, the fact that the enemy could strike any moment was making it hard for her to focus. Tonton was at her side, concerned for his caretaker. Shizune had pet her pet pig as she sat down beside her master.

She heard the sounds of explosions, echoing through the skies of Konoha she could hear the sounds of footsteps abound as countless of her fellow ninja had begun running around the area, sniffing about of any of Danzo's forces that are about to threaten the Godaime.

Outside, Genma held his senbon between his teeth like a toothpick; his hands were at his sides not normally within his pockets. He was wary, and he should be, these were elite fighters they were taking on. Yamato's squad had the advantage when Yamato lead them and the fact that they had superior numbers compared to the people of the northern gate. He had seen almost every ANBU member take off their mask and began searching the area, so as to not confuse anyone further. Root Ninja tend to act like ANBU loyalists, but the difference is that Root Ninja do not respond to any communication unless it involves the mission. To them, there was nothing more important than the task that had been given to them.

To his right, he saw Aoba tense as he adjusted his sunglasses. The man was just as wary as Genma. These are black ops agents. They tend to be absolutely ruthless when given the task. It was what made Root so damn efficient at what they do. But they also had the lowest recruits. Often, the ninjas that are put under Danzo's training program were neglected children who are never going to attend the academy. In here, Danzo and his subordinates would brainwash these children to forget anything that had to do with their past, their lives, their ages, their hobbies, _their names_ and the list goes on. It was inhuman, Aoba thought. These people were trained to become killers with no emotion, not even a tangible sense of guilt.

In Aoba's musings, it was then that they saw three ninja about to approach them, Aoba and Genma visibly tensed as they saw these three with hollowed look on their faces, Genma's teeth tightened the grip on his senbon.

Just in time, Shizune had appeared at the entrance of the tent, she had closed the cloth that led to Tsunade's room as she said to the ninja that stood before her, "You will not get past this point from this moment on."

Shizune then raised her right sleeve revealing a set of senbon shooters on her forearms, the weapons glistened in the sun as it accentuated its deadliness in front of the three emotionless ninja before them.

Unknown to the six combatants, a silhouette of a boy had squatted down behind Tsunade's tent; a small black rat had appeared inside sniffing around the small room.

* * *

Iron Country:

from the team, the samurai who jumped in the midst of the chaos, had pushed him to this area, as the wave of swordsmen began cutting down Root members left and right that used the woodlands as their shield with the samurai splitting into different directions intent on taking down every last one of the usurpers. Shikamaru got swept by the tide of really aggressive samurai, being pulled the sudden gush of battle when one of them dragged him into this depressing wood area and that was what led to this scenario.

Shikamaru stood up straight on a tree branch as he glanced to his side, taking a small peak at a squad of the Root Shinobi. Grabbing a pair of smoke bombs from his satchel, the lazy strategist looked to his other side and gave a deep breath.

Compared to these people, Shikamaru's physical prowess was un-appealing. He can't outrun someone like Kiba or Lee, can't outmatch Chouji and Naruto in strength, and can't even strike as fast as Neji.

Shikamaru found it troublesome to include any effort in physical training. Instead, he focused in letting his mind do the work, weaving formulaic plans that take a lot of people by surprise. Every time he used such articulate forms of tactics, almost all of his enemies play into his hands, every. Single. Time.

Shikamaru sighed again, his glaring disadvantage had been obvious earlier, and it was only thanks to his teammates that he was able to initiate the Kage Nui (Shadow Needles) at a closer proximity than he was originally comfortable in. Without something to cast a light around the area, his shadow techniques would be fairly useless. Shikamaru grasped one of the trench knives that once belonged to Asuma, gripping it with his free arm tight. As the three ninjas began to scour the dead frost of a forest, Shikamaru crouched down and began to think.

In heavily forested areas and jungle warfare, the best strategy would be to use guerrilla tactics. Striking simple but enough to slow down the opponent for easy pickings at the end, and although Shikamaru had the patience, he didn't have the drive to do such tactics here, and with his Shadow techniques out of the question at the moment, it would mean that his only choice to fight these assassins were to use his Ningu and trap making specialties.

'_Fifteen Shuriken, five kunai,__ ten metres of ninja wire, a flash bomb, two smoke bombs, and twenty kibaku fuuda (explosive notes)… Yep, restocking is a bitch before an emergency mission.'_

Shikamaru then stood up, for another time he had grabbed another stick of cigar from his former teacher's remaining stock… He popped one on his mouth and with a lighter; he ignited the cancer stick and began to let the nicotine fill his lungs. Now he knew why Asuma was addicted to this, somehow the cigarettes always made his nerves calm down.

Smoke bombs still in his hand, the young tactician ran forward, finally deciding to do his strategy.

'_Ambush is out of the question, I'm not stupid enough to do that with my techniques limited, guerrilla tactics it is.'_

Shikamaru then with one of his kunai, wrapped an explosive note by the handle carefully, and began stalking the three Root agents that had just went past him and separated to three different areas. Shikamaru, standing at a safe distance, flicked the kunai from his hand with it being thrown into the area that one of the operatives was at.

The Kunai had hit a trunk of the tree and gave a small resounding 'thunk!' as it embedded itself on the tree. The Root member with the ape mask looked at the kunai that had suddenly exploded, sending him careening to the side by the initial shockwave. The operative looked back from where he thought the kunai was fired and soon gave chase.

Shikamaru fastened three Explosive notes underneath the branch he had stood on then jumped below after throwing the first kunai, as he had hid himself below from of the bushes, he then grabbed four shuriken from his pouch and then changed his position to get a better angle to aim the throwing stars.

Once the member had landed on the branch that he had made, Shikamaru propped his hands together for a ram seal and the three explosive notes immediately had set off and ignited causing a resounding boom throughout the forest.

The Root Operative then fell down, emerging from the black smoke caused by the charred remains of the tree above. As the man descended from the freefall, Shikamaru, seeing that the man was now blindsided, flicked the four shuriken from his pouch and threw a kunai. Sure enough, the four shuriken had embedded itself on the man's limbs with the kunai sailing through the man's throat. Shikamaru thought he had a lucky shot at that. He expected someone like Tenten to do that kind of difficult shot. But then again, he wasn't too shabby on his Ningu usage, or so he thought.

Shikamaru immediately leapt away from the scene before those two members manage to jump him at the moment, Shikamaru's features darkened, flicking a smoke bomb in the area to bide him more time on how to attack the remaining two members currently on his tail.

'_One down!'_

Smoke had littered the area to where the two operatives arrived, seeing the fallen form of their comrade, they checked on the dead man and looked everywhere.

"The wind pipe has been pierced, based from position that he had fallen and the angle of the kunai, the enemy has taken a southwest route."

With that, the two ninja had flickered out of sight.

Over to the more forested area, Shikamaru then whisked his plan into motion. Now that the one of them was out of the fight, this would be a whole lot easier than he had thought, and if worse comes to worst, then a little gamble with the flash bomb would be his last resort.

As soon as he began weaving trap after trap with his Ninja wire and fifteen explosive notes around a small area, Shikamaru then grabbed one of the three remaining kunai in his pouch and planted one on top of the canopy of branches above. It was a good thing there was no light source for once, if there was then the shadow of that kunai could have been utterly obvious.

As he finished attaching the wires to the kunai on top, letting the tension of the wire reach its peak, Shikamaru then jumped away. He had two kunai and eleven shuriken left, coupled with a flash bomb that was all the tools he had left, and still no jutsu was used. Shikamaru's never ending patience was seemingly running thin. For him to be in this kind of disadvantage, it was terribly frustrating and difficult!

Shikamaru then turned to a corner, marking one of the trees with a slash from his kunai. Shikamaru knew that these people would be treating this mark as a decoy, and that was the pineapple headed chuunin had wanted them to think.

Naruto is going to owe him for this later, big time.

As soon as he had let his trap set into motion, he made it a point to let himself get in the way of the Root agents for the first time. Finally making his tracks obvious, Shikamaru leaned forward a little and soon ran like the devil itself was chasing after him.

When the operatives had finally managed to obtain the real tracks left behind by the chuunin, they soon ran at full speed following the trail left behind by the Nara, once they had caught up to Shikamaru, Shikamaru threw four shuriken that were easily deflected by the two masked ninja. Shikamaru then pulled out his remaining smoke bomb and tossed it on the ground, the smokescreen littered the area in a blanket of grey smog that the two agents got into. Shikamaru had then jumped from the smoke and immediately let loose eight shuriken from his hands and heard the sounds of multiple tensioned wires being effectively cut, springing the wires and lashed towards the blanket of smog like whips as it waved in the air and bound the operatives like the slithering body of a viper. Once the smoke had cleared, Shikamaru could see only one person in the binding tap that he made.

'_Shit!'_

Shikamaru then turned around and saw that the ANBU was already on top of him, with his sword brandished upwards.

Shikamaru had two kunai left in his pouch, and he tossed it at the man before jumping back and unfurling three more shuriken and throwing it at the remaining mobile Root member. Shikamaru cursed his luck, he had no more Ningu at his disposal, his jutsu were too close range for him to do the next step and the man that was bound by his trap was about to get out. Shikamaru then raised his right hand and formed a half ram seal.

The member then looked down as the explosive notes gave of a hissing sound as the sparks and flames began eating away at the paper.

As each of the explosive notes ate itself whole, a resounding explosion could be heard in the dense woodlands of Iron Country, wiping out a single man, now only charred remains, as a small crater bore itself as a testament to the fifteen explosive notes that had went off at the same time.

Through this small distraction, Shikamaru capitalized the moment and held out Asuma's trench knives and then threw them to the man who jumped away. Not one to finish his last gamble, Shikamaru then tossed his only tool left to his back…

A flash bomb.

With it making contact on a small tree, the bomb went off and gave such a blinding white light that the remaining operative in Shikamaru's sights shielded his eyes, Shikamaru, in that very second had finally began moulding his chakra and activated his Kage Nui.

The branches of the shadow needles crawled through the trench knives and instantly expanded, as it rose upwards and ascended like blades of grass and descended on the blinded man finally impaling him on every conceivable part of his body.

The man fell down in a limp as Shikamaru gave a sigh of relief, the tactician slumped on the forest and gazed up, how he wished that things were simpler back then when they were kids…

Shikamaru didn't care anymore. He just wanted to take it easy for a moment while staring lazily towards the dull and grey clouds that blanketed the skies of Iron Country. Shikamaru then let out another cigarette from Asuma's last pack and lit the said nicotine stick.

"I can see why Asuma-sensei was addicted to this stuff."

Another puff of the said stick and Shikamaru rested his head comfortably on the bark of the tree. He'd get back to his team later, right now; he wanted to recover his mind from doing those things so much. He'll be back… Eventually.

Hinata:

The moment the gates were opened, and the moment that the men had begun their assault, Hinata had activated her Byakugan to see just where her teammates were. When the Samurai had literally bulldozed their way towards the positions of the ANBU members, her vision shifted when she saw the collapse of the giant earth wall that was severed on its lower part. Resulting in the collapse of said wall and burying some of the ninjas there. Her vision however, shifted again when she heard Kakashi questioning her about Naruto's chakra coils. Which, surprisingly enough, were intermingling with each other, and that Naruto had three types of chakra flowing in him, the myriad of blue, green and red entered her vision, looking at the center of Naruto's chakra reserves. She could see that the green energy and the red one were trying to cancel each other out. In the middle laid the blue, normal chakra that was trying to absorb both. When the red one somewhat stabilized, the green energy began to feed the blue more of its energy as it then began to mix.

It had looked like Sage Mode had the ability to neutralize some negative effects that the red chakra had, the malevolent red energy was being put on stasis, slowly being absorbed by the blue energy.

Her musings were cut off when she had seen to her back, was an ANBU member that was poised to strike her down, until a blast of wind had sent the man flying from her and hitting the cold hard ground, skidding to the snow by the attack

"Hakke Kuushou (Eight Trigrams: Wind Palm)"

"Please do not let your guard down, Hinata-sama." Neji quickly implied as he chased after the Root ANBU reeling back his hand giving a palm strike directly at the chest.

Hinata nodded and turned around, her sights focused on the person in front of her, it was another operative.

Byakugan still active, Hinata had lowered her stance to the Jyuuken, palms open and faced against her would be assailant, charging palms open. The Root ANBU jumped overhead just as Hinata had outstretched her palm, sailing past over the man that had used a summersault over her, the operative then raised his sword, about to slash Hinata in a vertical swipe. The girl fluidly dodged to her right and directed her palm to the ANBU member's back. The operative twisted his body as he landed down, carefully evading the attack by mere centimetres from his spine. The man then landed on his free left hand and was about to swipe his sword horizontally at Hinata's thighs, but the girl managed to jump back evading the attack that could have crippled her for life.

Maintaining her stance in the Jyuuken, Hinata watched her opponent carefully. Studying the man carefully before making another assault, Hinata focused her vision to his chakra system that was now flowing like a cascading waterfall.

'_Neji-niisan has more experience in f__ighting armed shinobi than I am. Tenten-san had been his sparring partner for a long time. I've been more used to fighting enemies unarmed. This would be difficult. But Neji-niisan always said that sword users are predictable to where and how they swing, if it's above their head, they will do a vertical cut, if it's by the waist or torso with the hilt forward, it's a horizontal slash and if the blade is pointing forward…'_

The man then poised ran towards Hinata, his body flickering from side to side, the tip of the blade as expected, was pointed towards her.

'_A thrust!'_

Hinata simply leaned her torso to her left, effectively dodging the blade, Hinata then with her right arm, grabbed the man by the wrist with her two fingers; tried to poke the man's tenketsu situated on his solar plexus.

The man blocked with his free arm, using his white arm as a shield. Hinata then adjusted her strike and instead of poking the man by the chest, she directed her finger to close the tenketsu on the man's right arm.

Somehow, Hinata could hear a silent grunt of pain coming from the operative as he felt the grip on his sword loosen.

Hinata then felt the man force his sword down, Hinata then stepped forward and ducked. The blade completely missing her by a few inches as she went past the hilt, Hinata countered with another palm strike, this time, to the nape of his neck, trying to destroy the man's peripheral nervous system. The man simply ran forward, with Hinata missing her strike.

The man grunted in pain as he tried to lift his right arm but couldn't do so; there was that tingling, numbing pain that he had felt. But pain was a mere obstacle, Root had taught him that. Pain blocks what the mind wants, survival instincts are non-essential to ninjas of Root, to them; they had been trained to ignore their flight response as normal humans. Fighting would be their only option, if anything, if it meant cutting your own arm off to succeed in the mission then do so. By all means, you exist for the mission, nothing else.

The member could not feel his right arm, the prickling sensation sent to his right arm was all there is, it looked somehow limp. But the man still held onto his sword tighter, as if his own will had strengthened in holding his katana.

Forcing his hand up, the member didn't flinch or once wince with the amount of pain delivered to his right arm. All he knew was that he needed to win; the drive in his mind to finish and succeed in the mission was all that he needed. Nothing more. It was the belief that his superior had instilled in his mind for as long as he was active.

In Root, you do not exist…

You have no past…

You have no present…

You have no future…

Only the mission.

Hinata watched intently as the man forced his right arm to chest level, forcing chakra on the closed Tenketsu point that she had just blocked, she could see how the man was forcefully opening the small blocked point. She found herself cringe at the amount of pain that it must be doing to him. Forcefully opening your tenketsu point would lead to a serious amount of injury, one of which was straining the chakra coils that stream the energy all around the body. A forceful opening could lead to the collapse or burst of the veins that travel the chakra to different parts of the body.

The man used a ram seal as he began moulding chakra and then held his sword in a reverse grip.

"Ninpo: Mikadzuki no Mai (Ninja Art: Dance of the Crescent Moon)."

The man then separated to two, as the two clones began hovering to her side, as it looked like a firefly dancing in the wind. Hinata knew better though, as her Byakugan had already foreseen where her opponent was. Hinata began concentrating chakra on her palms as she began to thin it out like a sharp thread, as she began weaving around her area of what seemed like a net of repelling chakra.

"Shugo Hakke Rokujyuyonshou! (Guardian of the Eight Trigrams: Sixty Four Palms)"

The man's blade from atop was parried and deflected away from his hands, as he was suddenly caught in the dome of the repelling chakra net, hitting him in every part of his body as it seemed like a thousand needles had just rained and was piercing his skin in a sharp and continuous amount of pain.

Hinata wasn't done yet, as she put the base of her palms adjacent to each other in a vertical manner with her palms open she struck the man in the middle of his chest.

"Izayoi Tenbu! (Sixteenth Moon Night Heaven Dance)"

Chakra shot out of her palms piercing the man at the chest, destroying every chakra pathway as the lights of the energy pierce the man riddling his body like bullets. The man convulsed in midair and was blasted away by the force of the attack.

Hinata turned around; another member had appeared, this time from the ground. The member lunged at her with his katana drawn. She gritted her teeth, defeating the first one was not an easy feat, and facing another one was just a problem waiting to pile up, one after another. Hinata then bared it with gritted teeth, even if these people were stronger than her, if it meant that she would defend Naruto with her life; then she would whole heartedly do so as she did before!

"This is my last gamble… Jyuho Soushiken! (Gentle Step Twin Lion Fists)"

She could feel the chakra on her hands glowing and dancing like wildfire as a pair of lion heads had began to take shape on her palms.

"For the person that I love… I will do anything!"

That confident smile that she had shown now, was all the answer that the ANBU shall get before she thrusts the attack straight to the man's body.

Sakura:

For most of the onslaught that occurred, Sakura stayed behind the lines and began treating injuries left and right, she had a competent medical staff to her aid and a very responsive medical unit at her disposal. The Samurai may be no slouch and posed an even more intimidating figure than the ANBU, but they were people that specialized in combat more, while shinobi branched out in different areas. Versatile, the Samurai were not.

"Get the antidotes ready for anyone who get's poisoned, have all the injured place in one area, separate the people those who are in mild and in critical injuries. Make the area for the critically injured close to our proximity as possible. Divide this unit into teams of three, three for every patient that are in critical condition, one for every mildly injured person. Make sure you all have your soldier pills for an additional chakra boost!"

Sakura began yelling orders left and right, being the apprentice of the Godaime Hokage, she knew more what was normal for her age. Tsunade considered her a prodigy in this field, with a potential to surpass her one day. Sakura began skimming through the notes as medics from left and right began delivering the wounded one by one, with some of them obtaining wounds themselves though minor.

She stopped for a moment, looking sharp as she could feel the killing intent well up from underneath the earth, she then commanded for the medic corps to stand back as she wore her black gloves and said, "Never underestimate a medic nin!"

Sakura punched the ground in such a violent manner, that the ground beneath her shattered. Fissures and slabs of earth rose up and spiked revealing a Root Shinobi that had been stalking them for quite sometime.

Sakura cracked her knuckles once again and said, "Nobody messes with my friends."

With that, Sakura darted like a lightning bolt, already on top of the man that had shook of his dizziness. Dodging another chakra induced punch that further caved the ground below.

Sakura then jumped, as the man began to breathe out fireballs at him with a Housenka. With a twist of her body in mid-air, she dodged the fireballs and raised her right leg above her head. She had seen Tsunade-shishou do this often when she was training her. Tsunade drilled it into her mind that a medic nin's job was to not be allowed to be hit. Dodging became first nature to her; she had become proficient at it that Tsunade said that many people would mistake her to have the Sharingan. Another was that Medic nins only fight as a last resort. Given that a medic was a vital part of the team, fighting was not an option, however if worst came to worse then fighting would be the obvious choice. It was in times like these that Tsunade had taught her fiercely aside from medical jutsu.

"Tsutenkyaku! (Painful Sky Leg)"

The ground shattering heel strike to ground shook the man of his bearings as Sakura had suddenly appeared on his side. Grabbing him by the nook of his shirt, Sakura tossed the man in mid-air with her nearly monstrous Tsunade-like strength and punched the man hard in the gut piercing through organs and with the lower half of the spinal column shattering from the blow.

Kakashi and Gai had appeared just in time to provide as back up, Kakashi was concerned about the Hokage who had ran off and fought Danzo on his own so he went back to find Sakura in case there was a backlash of this new type of power that the Hokage had accidentally accumulated. He had known that Naruto was feeling the stress levels of the political talks was reaching him at boiling point, add to the fact that Sasuke appeared and disrupted the meeting and facing Madara about the truth behind the Uchiha clan, Kakashi wasn't surprised that all of these revelations after revelations mentally exhausted Naruto so much that it left him quite frustrated about the whole thing.

Gai on the other hand, appeared just in time to double check the medic nin corps, with the brunt of the assault force fighting off the Root forces along with the leader of Iron, Gai thought it would be more prudent to be on guard for the medic nin corps, besides, out in the battlefield was Neji and Shikamaru, Gai would trust these people would be okay on their own, he just wished that the Hokage would keep his cool.

He had noticed that Naruto started to slump a little when they were about to exit the gates, and from the bags under the Hokage's eyes, it showed the fatigue that settled within him. He wasn't sure if he could leave him alone like that, after all, almost half of the attacks that was dealt to Sasuke was Naruto's doing, and he could see just how much it pained Naruto in doing so. Kakashi seemed to mutter something along the lines of, "It's the Valley of the End all over again." when they were in the hallways a little earlier.

Gai had not personally heard about this particular mission from Neji, as the boy refused to tell about it, as it was, Neji didn't want to talk about a mission that was an utter failure, and even though Neji got to open up, some of the accounts after Neji's and Lee's battles were missing, so he didn't know what exactly occurred at the end of the mission that led to its failure.

It was then that two ROOT ninja had appeared right in front of them, from the disposition that each of them gave; they were probably high in Danzo's rankings.

"Well, well, looks like I'll get to see more action after all." Kakashi then unfurled the Sharingan covered from his forehead protector, and gave a simple hand seal. Gai merely went for his Gouken stance.

"Sakura, go and see to Hokage-sama, Hinata is near his vicinity, she should be able to tell what occurred and what might happen." Kakashi commanded the pink haired chuunin who nodded.

"Keep Hokage-sama safe and uninjured! We will handle this and catch up to you in a moment!" Gai continued, not taking his eyes off their opponents.

Sakura nodded and ran off towards the Hokage, who was mere minutes away in killing the leader of Root.

Naruto:

Rage, indescribable fury welled from within Naruto's mind. Nothing could be compared to what he had felt when Danzo mentioned his actions against his mother, he could feel his anger rising and brewing like a storm back then, Naruto could only see red at that time. This anger and rage that he felt was worse when Kabuto almost killed Tsunade, when Sasuke left Konoha, worse than Jiraiya's death. It had hit him hard, harder than anything he could have felt. Was it the same for Sasuke when he saw his family die over and over again?

Naruto couldn't answer that question for the moment, for he had poised a kunai at Danzo's throat, the man responsible for ruining his and Sasuke's lives. The man that indirectly destroyed Konoha by allying with himself with a questionable leader, the man that had been under suspicion of using Akatsuki to kill the Sandaime, his grandfather figure, Naruto couldn't stand such the repulsive man before him, it only brought on his anger and unending hatred of the man so much.

With that, he had brought down the hammer of justice upon the wicked man that was Danzo.

And impaled the man by the right shoulder…

The old man grunted in pain as he felt the blade of the weapon piercing his flesh, blood began to damp Danzo's kimono. Oozing out to where the kunai was impaled. The man looked at Naruto who was looking at him with rage filled eyes, eyes of malice and wrath, eyes that could set fire to any object it sees. And right now, those eyes were piercing Danzo to the very pits of his soul.

"**Death is a punishment too good for someone like you, you piece of shit! I have a better one in mind!" **

Naruto then let his chakra focused to a single point of his right index finger; the chakra flickered and sparked brightly as Naruto then began to point it at Danzo's forehead.

Naruto then began carving the seal with his chakra on the man's forehead; it was an improvised seal that he had come up on the fly from his training a few days ago. Carving the character void on the old war hawk's forehead, Naruto then proceeded to his hand seal sequence then. He had intended to use this as a restraining measure if ever he encountered Sasuke on his way to the summit, but he couldn't exactly test this on Kakashi as it would have brought problems at an initial test. But to Danzo, he could do this without restraint, without holding back, without as much as a problem.

He first started with the seal of the Boar to suppress what he wanted to suppress, Danzo's Sharingan. Then he proceeded to use the seal of the ever noble tiger, the destroyer of all things, the symbol of flames and power. The rat for spreading the seal and start the connection of the network within Danzo's chakra system, and finally the Ram to finish and mould the chakra to a single focal point.

With that, Naruto touched the forehead of the extremist leader again and the seal had glowed. Within Seconds, Danzo could feel his Sharingan suddenly vanish from his right eye, like somehow, it deactivated. He could feel his chakra coils move to a standstill for a second and then a few minutes later, he couldn't feel his chakra anymore, he felt himself fall beneath the lowest of the low, as he felt utterly powerless to the boy that stood before him those cross eyes showing that undeniably heated glare against him. He could feel that the Hokage had wanted to do more than just seal away both his chakra and Sharingan, but the restraint from the man was unbelievable.

Naruto then could feel his sage chakra and the bijuu chakra dying down from him, as he knelt over the body of Danzo and began pummelling the beaten man on the ground. All the while, Naruto was crying his tears out.

"Bastard! You killed her! You killed her! You ruined my life! You ruined our lives!"

Naruto kept pounding, pouring all his anger and sadness into his fists.

"I wanted to kill you! I wanted to murder you! Make you feel pain before finally lobbing of your head!"

Another set of punches flew on the man, as Naruto continued pounding the man on his face as he broke Danzo's jaw.

'_The answer to peace is understanding__, Naruto, remember that!' The voice of Jiraiya echoed in his mind_

* * *

_Flashback:_

"_Mama! Where are you?" A crying three year old Naruto walked through the hallway of their tiny apartment, looking for his mother._

"_I had a nightmare!" Naruto continued between sobs. Holding his closed hands to his eyes, trying to dry out the tears._

"_Where are you mama?" Naruto continued_

_Thunder echoed throughout the house, a rainstorm had occurred that night, Naruto was crying, calling out for his beloved mother's voice,_

"_I'm scared! I'm cold! Where did you go?"_

_Flashback end_

* * *

Naruto continued to pound the man's face as he could feel all of his anger and his rage balled into one moment.

Naruto punched the old war hawk to the face before he finally screamed all of his anguish out in the open.

As Naruto stood up, he could feel his eyes began to water more, as tears began turning to blood, Naruto coughed out more blood from his mouth as he looked on to the snow covered ground. He knelt down and finally collapsed. Red and blue marks began appearing on his right hand, as he slowly fell into unconsciousness.

'_Right here, Naruto-chan.'_

A voice echoed through his mind before slowly succumbing to the darkness.

To be continued…

* * *

Goddamn job hunt. I'm still searching for one and I manage to write this during my breaks. I've decided to do this to different internet cafes so that they won't recognize me, any of you know how uncomfortable it is to write a story in the presence of people that keep staring at you? I sure do. I've got two reasons to celebrate though, I watched the boxing match a week ago and damn, I won such a high rolling bet, (200 dollars!) not only that, it was one of the best I've watched in a long time. Pacquiao vs. Cotto, if any of you are interested in boxing, you must have watched the fight. If not, you missed out on such a big event.

Woohoo! More than a thousand favourites for this one! A milestone in my works. Honestly? I wanted to make the other characters shine in this event, I still feel very iffy about Ino, for one, out of all in their age group, Ino has yet to engage in a serious combat (the one with Hidan and Kakuzu doesn't count!). Damn it, I even had to go back and re-play Narutimate accel 2 to find something that might make her more of a kickass ninja, but alas, I couldn't. Aside from that missile drop kick (Gekka Bijin) and that Genjutsu, (Choushinka).

Well, I've made Sakura much more of a bearable character for this one in my opinion. All the while, many of you were enraged with Sakura's sudden confession that hit like a truck, I was somewhat laughing my ass off at that, me and my friends reading the manga shouted it came out of nowhere and was stupid as hell. So we just laughed it off, Kishi sure knows how to ruin his main characters, he screwed Naruto one over a few months ago, and this time it's Sakura. Rest assured, they will have this talk about their friend more; just not in the way it was supposed to be delivered to make Sakura more likable. Also, addressing romance again? Well, like Kishi, I'm no good at writing romance and lemon (Never tried writing them, never will for lemon at least) so I'll just have to do a Toriyama and surprise you all at the end (Naruto's reaction to Hinata's confession shall come soon, just don't expect it to be romantic to not be disappointed). Right now, romance isn't important at the start of the greatest war in the Naruto world. I'm focusing more on the plot. About Danzo, well, I didn't want to kill him yet for Naruto has plans for the useless beaten war hawk yet.

Take a good guess who said the last line near the closing sentence. If ever someone guessed it right, they get virtual cake!

Also, story challenge is up in my profile! Check it out if you want to have a go at it!

* * *

**Reply**** no jutsu**: A segment I made to reply to some anon reviewers, pretty much any reviews that I can't reply to that I need to.

Ok, let's get one thing straight, Naruto didn't NEED to use Kyuubi on this one, he could pound the old fogey to death in Sage Mode alone. Yet, with his stress levels reaching at its peak, and with the realization that the said cripple had killed Naruto's mother with that arrogant smirk on his face, Naruto eventually snapped. A reference for this would be Naruto and Pain's fight. Revelation after revelation, with Hinata's confession being the final push to break Naruto's rage out like a fire hydrant and immediately transforming Naruto to his six tailed state finally reaching the peak of eight tails. Remember, he wasn't in sage mode at this time, as he was impaled to the ground.

Think of this, and not in a logical way, what would you do if you find out that the person in front of you, right now, after a hard day at work, being yelled at by your boss, and with insurmountable paperwork on your desk, you find out that this was the fucker that had ruined your life as a kid by killing your mother? And he said it with an arrogant smile on his face as he stared at you with those amused eyes, what would you feel? Me? I'd be completely mad to the point I'd be seeing red and probably end up beating the guy to an inch of his life. Naruto is human, as human as any other person there is, he isn't perfect. The reason why he used the Kyuubi's chakra was because he was mad to a point that he WANTED to murder Danzo (Anger triggers Kyuubi), his mother's murderer, the one who denied him of a love that he had so desperately yearned for his life. Think about that for a second and come up to a conclusion, would Naruto have simply held back with his emotions in check and let Danzo do as he pleases? Hell no! Naruto may have understood the loss of someone close with Jiraiya's death and Sasuke's desire for revenge, he had wanted to kill Pein but denied himself of that thought, even though Naruto had sworn off revenge, he still is, at his core, a human. Here, he will understand the effects of revenge that had been fulfilled or partially, thus leading him closer to understand the pain of emptiness after such a struggle. Naruto may have become a leader, but his heart is still carried on his sleeve. Nothing will change that. That's what's make Naruto who he is.

Okay, now on with the part of 'Naruto relies on Kyuubi too much', Kyuubi is a part of Naruto and that fact won't change. It's like saying Sasuke relies too much on his Sharingan, Neji relies too much on his Byakugan, Shikamaru relies too much on his brain. Naruto, for most of his life, relied on the Kyuubi. If it wasn't for the Kyuubi, he wouldn't have his large chakra capacity, his regeneration, and his ungodly stamina. What you are witnessing, is the fact that Naruto is a jinchuuriki, the truth won't change, and it certainly won't at the very end. If Naruto had a bloodline, he'd use that, but since he has Kyuubi, he'll use it when he needs to or doesn't when he can't get his emotions in check.

On with this jive about the Mangekyou Sharingan, I can't reply to anon reviewers so I'm saying it here. We have seen partially of what the price of the Mangekyou Sharingan has given its users, blindness. For a doujutsu user, it's a terrible blow, for one, you can't use your Doujutsu if you're freakin' blind or your vision is hazy that would totally mess with your visual perception and acuity (With your peripheral vision in the dumps, that's already a bitch), you can't aim Amaterasu well, eye contact would keep you guessing, hell, if you want to make eye contact from afar, you need to wear glasses because you won't know if your opponent will look at you straight at the eye. That has got to be a kick to the crotch to someone like Sasuke (Mind you, he has been keeping his myopic eyes from his teammates) who flaunts his eyes so much that he'll eventually go blind. Why should I NOT give a price to Naruto's power? All power has a given price, Cursed Seal? Sanity, lifespan etc. Jinchuuriki? Seclusion, instability, fears of a takeover from the beast yadda, yadda, yadda. I mean fuck man, giving unreasonable power ups is well… Unreasonable, there's no fun, there's no challenge… Where's Naruto's theme of rising through adversity after that? (DNA wo Makeneze!) Besides, to me, Naruto is a diamond in a beach of rhinestones, many would pass Naruto as goofball or a moron, but he isn't an idiot, he just learns differently, but when he does, he learns fast.

* * *

Okay, now that I got that off my chest, read and review!


	8. Disillusioned

The Hokage's Will

Chapter Eight: Disillusioned

* * *

"_Mama! Mama! Look!" A three year old Naruto shouted, holding the sleeve of his mother, tugging it with all of his might, a childish grin plastered on his face as he held out a paper with doodles and colours from a three year old._

_The lady with the red hair then kneeled down, looking at the paper her son drew. A gentle smile escaped her lips._

"_This is wonderful, Naru-chan! Is this me?"_

_Naruto nodded fervently._

_Kushina smiled and embraced her son lovingly feeling proud and happy for her son's affection._

_Naruto peeked in the small dark room in the dead of the night, carrying a small blanket with him, the boy then gently woke his mother, shoving her arm._

_Kushina woke up, dishevelled from her sudden abruption in her sleep, seeing the crying form of Naruto, carrying a small blanket._

"_Mama, I had a nightmare… I dreamt I was being eaten by a monster!"_

_The blonde ushered between sobs, Kushina gently smiled and moved to the side of her bed, motioning for Naruto to come over._

_The small boy then climbed the bed as Kushina uttered to her son, "Don't worry, Mama's here, I won't let anything happen to you."_

_Naruto felt the comfortable bliss of sleep once again, as he slowly dozed off in Kushina's embrace._

* * *

_Thunder echoed throughout the hallways, as Naruto was startled awake, the boy immediately got up as he began to cry again, he looked around and then got down, he got through the familiar room he had always went, once he was inside, he found the bed empty._

_Panicking, the blonde began looking around the house, running to where his little legs could take him. He ran around, the house, looking at the bathroom, then to the living room, shouting for his mother,_

"_Mama! Mama! Where are you!?" He shouted, throughout the darkness of their house as rain began pelting from outside, thunder echoed again to the hallway of the small house_

"_I had a nightmare!" Naruto continued between sobs, holding his closed hands to his eyes, trying to dry out the tears._

"_Where are you mama?" Naruto continued_

_Thunder echoed throughout the house, a rainstorm had occurred that night, Naruto was crying, calling out for his beloved mother's voice,_

"_I'm scared! I'm cold! Where did you go?"_

"_Right here, Naruto-chan…"_

_Naruto instantly dashed towards the area where he had heard the voice of his beloved mother, who was kneeling on the ground, sweat falling from her brow as she looked absolutely dishevelled and tired, Naruto, in distraught, charged towards her mother and embraced her,_

"_I had a nightmare again!" He began, as he embraced her, Kushina hugged his little child in the back, ignoring the pain on her back. She lulled Naruto in her sweet embrace. She gritted her teeth, unknown to Naruto, as the pain of the poisoned Kunai started doing its job. It was acting fast, coursing through her body like quicksilver. She knew she was going to die and leave Naruto behind, but not before giving Naruto, one last goodbye._

_As the young blonde hugged her with all his might, Kushina felt her resolve collapse a little. Embracing Naruto in the tightest way as she can, she couldn't show the distraught face of a mother now, Naruto needed her._

_In the midst of her endearing and final embrace, Kushina began to sing to her son._

_Hush little baby, don't say a word_

_Mommy's going to buy you a mocking bird…_

_As Kushina sang that song, she could feel her son's breathing slowing down and her tears starting to fall, she couldn't bear to leave her son alone in this world. Amongst a crowd of people that hated him, in a world where they would use him, no one could protect him, she feared for the worst._

_As she continued to sing, she willed herself to get up through sheer determination and placed her son on his bed all the while singing the song that her son loved so much. She kissed her son on the cheeks as she tucked her son on his bed. She could feel her voice waver and her salty tears brushed on her lips._

_As she stood up, she had two__ more stanzas left of the song, _

_And if that horse and cart fall down,_

_You'll still be the sweetest little boy in town…_

_One more stanza, one more parting gift to her son. It was getting harder to speak let alone pay attention. She had to be strong…_

_For Naruto…_

_Damn it, just one more!_

_So hush little baby, don't you cry__,  
Daddy loves you and so… _

_Do… _

_I._

_As she went out, she had closed Naruto's door gently._

_THUD_

* * *

Naruto opened his eyes; the scent of antiseptic filled his nose, and the white ceiling of the room made him realize he was in the hospital. He groaned and looked around, there were several cords attached to his chest, hearing the beeping sounds of the machine giving off sharp lines up and down.

"It is a relief to see you are finally awake."

He turned his head to look at the source of the voice and found Mifune, who was leaning against the wall, parallel to his bed.

"You have been out for forty-eight hours, Hokage-dono."

Naruto groaned again, he sat up, stretching his sore back muscles and asked Mifune, "What happened, Mifune-san?"

"The attempted usurpation to the alliance has fallen. Your plan was excellent." Mifune replied, as he then continued, "Danzo has been detained into one of our cells, all remnants of his forces in this country had been wiped out, and we have very minimal to low amounts of casualties. If it not for your medic, we would have far worse, I commend your predecessor on teaching such an excellent apprentice of hers."

Naruto only nodded, he saw that his abdomen had bandages, as did his cheek and his right shoulder, he flexed his right arm and clenched his hands into fists, finding that it to, had bandages on its own.

Sakura had soon stormed inside Naruto's room, a quite irate cherry blossom haired girl had met her, holding a chart in her hands and shouted to the blonde, "Don't be so reckless, Hokage-sama!"

Naruto flinched at the tone of her voice as she continued, "Did you know what happened to you!?"

Mifune then stepped out of the room, obviously uncomfortable at the tongue lashing that Sakura was delivering to the captain-commander.

"Internal haemorrhage of the worst kind, that's what! Some of the major blood vessels were ruptured, it turned to Aneurysm!"

Sakura then looked at the chart; there were multiple sign of internal haemorrhage in Naruto's body, organ punctures, lacerated blood vessels, and even an awful case of pneumothorax. In one episode, Naruto's lungs had almost collapsed, if it wasn't for Kyuubi right now, Naruto would have surely died. When finding out the cause of the said thing, Hinata had explained that the two opposing chakras of Nature and the Kyuubi's caused a violent reaction over time that the stored chakra in the cells began to disintegrate to a point were the very cellular structure began falling apart.

The regeneration of Naruto's wounds had worked faster than it originally had though; Sakura had to wonder just how it happened. The strengthened seal of the fourth was probably there to be thankful for.

As she skimmed through Naruto's chart, Sakura began to speak.

"We thought you we could have lost you, you know." She said in a sombre tone. Naruto remained quiet, looking down.

"When you fought Danzo, I guess your anger was at your limit."

Naruto couldn't reply. He had no words to tell about what happened. Instead, he remained quiet and stared the sheets draped over him that kept him warm, he balled his hands into fists, ruffling the blanket on top of him.

"But that doesn't excuse you why you have to be so rash, Naruto!"

Naruto flinched yet again.

"You're always like this. You're willing sacrifice yourself just so you could finish something, don't you know that all of us were concerned when you were near the brink of death!?"

"Just this once, Naruto, just… Don't do things that could lead to your death! We've lost Sasuke-kun already, I'm not about to lose you too! Don't try to push yourself further than you already have!"

Another round of tongue lashings came, Naruto couldn't very well reply, he was too pre-occupied about that dream he had just had. Or to be more precise, a memory he never knew he had.

"Are you even listening to me!?" Sakura griped.

Naruto nodded absentmindedly. He stared over the window as he watched the snow outside gently falling on the white ground. His memory, though vague had a sudden recalling of his mother, he didn't know why he would forget such memories of someone very dear to him, someone who had showed love to him. Something must have happened prior to his mother's death, something made him stop remembering. The question was, why?

"I'm sorry, Sakura… It's been one hell of a ride, realizations after one another, unbearable truths about my past, about Sasuke's… I can't believe it… All my life, it was dictated by the people in the higher ups of the village or more precisely, someone who manipulated everything underground. The same person that was responsible in instigating such a terrible act against Sasuke's family and mine as well. After what Danzo said about me, I could only see red."

Sakura stood there quietly, Naruto held his head for a moment and said with a dejected smile as he leaned back, "How could I forget my own mother like that?"

This time, it was Sakura's turn to be speechless. Back then, she would have said that Naruto was an idiot that forgot someone important like his mother. It was enlightening to say the least, as Sakura realized the horrors of her past actions towards her team. She had never bothered back then to look at her teammates beyond that of their shown attitudes, but by the time she had started doing so, it was already far too late to do anything with them.

Sasuke had drifted away from them. Naruto was already going away for his training trip with Jiraiya. She had to learn about her teammates through hours of sneaking through shinobi profiles after her training sessions with Tsunade.

She didn't want to say anything anymore, she didn't want to pry anymore, and any type of stress wouldn't be good for Naruto. It was enough that Naruto made that decision with Sasuke, Shikamaru had been right with him all along. With that, she said to Naruto, "Get some rest, Hokage-sama. I don't know what happened back there with Danzo. I won't pry. But whatever it is that's bothering you right now, please settle it quickly. The Raikage has left in search of his brother two days ago, while the other Kages remained to discuss some of the preparations with you."

Once Sakura was outside, everyone from Konoha looked over at the pink haired kunoichi and told them that Naruto was now awake, and soon, the three remaining Kages and the leader of Iron went inside.

Sakura however, tried to stop them, the Hokage was still recovering. It was met with an urgent stare coming from the Tsuchikage. The old man said to her, "That may be, but this war takes precedence above all. Every human life is at stake here, recovery time can be given to him on a much more lax period."

Once inside, the three remaining leaders of each respective village stood dignified before the Kage of Fire Country, all of them wore stoic expressions and calculating looks. Gaara spoke, his voice laced with the formality like any other diplomat.

"Hokage-dono, we commend you for your strategy in exterminating the forces that threatened the alliance. Also, after you lost consciousness, the five of us had disputed over the potential candidacy of the supreme commander."

This time, Mifune stepped in, "We can't risk you being exposed to the battlefield this early on, Hokage-dono, but we can't also risk you not being there, the fact that you have veritable strategic knowledge of the battlefield. We can't let you be sent to the frontlines."

Naruto had immediately interjected, "What!?"

The Tsuchikage spoke, "Indeed, I may have considered the Hosts of the Hachibi and the Kyuubi to be a very vital part on the frontlines when we are out there, but it is also a fact that your chakras are painfully obvious once you let the beast out, a factor which I have forgotten about the jinchuuriki."

Naruto seethed at that for a moment, with his hands balled into fists, the Mizukage had quickly added, "You are a vital part of the war, Hokage-dono, we lose you and the Eight Tails host, we lose everything."

"I'm sorry, Hokage-dono, but we can't have you being enlisted as a part of the forces in this war. Strategic meetings that will commence on the alliance will be held in secret, with only the six of us talking like this, we will hide your location as to where that meeting will take place. And the one that shall take over as the second-in-command will be Raikage-dono that will pose as the supreme commander upfront."

Naruto wanted to protest, but he knew that the other leaders were right; he still hasn't found a way yet to counter Madara's time-space manipulation.

Naruto then asked, "Has the Raikage accepted?"

All of the Kages and the leader of Iron nodded. The Kazekage then added, "Not only that, Tsuchikage-dono has also given us information on some of Madara's techniques, being one of the people that Madara had fought long ago."

The Tsuchikage then looked asked, "What of the prisoner?"

"I have questions I need answered from the man, and if I can pull this off, we may be able to reduce the numbers of Akatsuki members forcing Madara into a corner." Naruto held his chin for a moment and then said to the leaders, "Is there anything else that you need to tell me?"

All of them shook their heads, Naruto answered, "Then let me get some rest for now, as soon as you can, go back to your respective villages and start preparing. For now, we need to determine Akatsuki's main base of operations since Ame has withdrawn its support from Akatsuki."

With that, the leaders had exited the room, the rest of the Konoha ninja hurriedly entered the room, fully intent on knowing what had just occurred, and the war that the Tsuchikage mentioned.

"What's going on, Hokage-sama? What did the Tsuchikage mean that we're going to war?" Asked Shikamaru, he eyed the Hokage who was looking out at the snow littered skies of Iron Country from his bed.

"Akatsuki declared war on the five main hidden villages seeing as they now have seven of the nine bijuu. We decided to form an alliance to counter the threat. Before that, they terrorized the summit itself. Guess who was with them."

Shikamaru didn't like where this was going, he was frowning the whole way as he said the name, "Sasuke."

Naruto solemnly nodded.

Sakura looked horrified for a moment. She was shaking visibly at the thought of Sasuke being part of a terroristic attack on the summit. Sasuke may be calm, but he had an impulse worse than Naruto and was almost always taciturn when it came to his goals.

Her voice, shaking, she said to Naruto, "W-What's going to happen to Sasuke-kun, now?"

Naruto gave a sigh as he stared up on the ceiling, of his room and said, "I can't pardon him Sakura, he's assaulted the Five Kages, and no one can deny he's part of Akatsuki now."

"However, it turns out that Madara is brainwashing Sasuke to do his bidding. So there may be hope yet. One last chance Sakura, we have one last chance to get him back or at least defect from Madara." Kakashi had answered for Naruto. Sakura looked grim for a moment, was this how it's all going to end?

"Now could you please let me get some rest? Tomorrow, I'll have a talk with our old friend, Danzo."

His subordinates nodded all at once and began exiting out the door. But not before Hinata had said to the Hokage,

"I'm glad, that your safe, Hokage-sama."

Naruto looked quizzical for a moment, confusion littered his mind. Until he remembered the day she had confessed to him. Naruto seemed to let out a melancholic smile as he said, "Stay for a moment Hinata, I still have to say something."

Hinata stopped reaching for the doorknob as she looked at Naruto, she could feel her heart beat faster than ever, her face dyed with the red of her blood crawling to her cheeks.

"W-What is it?"

It was that stutter again, she knew for a fact that she had been slowly getting over her shy phase, but it was harder now that Naruto seemed ready to answer her.

"Sit down for a moment and relax, this won't take ten minutes."

Hinata did as she was told, Naruto then continued, "I'm sorry if I didn't get to talk to you sooner about this, but I had a lot of things to take care of."

Hinata shook her head at this, "It's no problem, Naruto-kun."

Naruto seemed to chuckle lightly at this as he continued, "You know you're always too kind for your own good sometimes."

Hinata seemed flustered for a moment there as Naruto continued with a smile, "But then I guess that's why I like people like you, Hinata. You're always looking out for everybody, even when you knew I was going to fight your cousin three years ago."

"It's no big deal, Naruto-kun. I just gave you words of encouragement. I'm glad that I was one of the reasons why you wanted to win against Neji-niisan." Hinata replied with a serene smile on her face.

Naruto gave a soft laugh as he looked down, "I guess you have a way with words, Hinata. Remember that mission back then when we went to hunt down Itachi?"

Hinata nodded, Naruto then said, "Looking back, I was a bit tense when we started, I was nervous, we were about to go on a hunt for a ninja that was clearly beyond our league back then. I was nervous of the fact that Itachi might kill one of you guys and me being taken away. But you cheered me up and told me to do my best. It's been a while since I felt that much lighter than normal, like somehow, I've felt the weight I was carrying was lighter."

Again, the blonde gave a small laugh as he said, "I never got to thank you for that."

Hinata gave an earnest reply, "I-It's enough that you were encouraged by me."

A blush escaped her cheeks yet again. Naruto gave her one of his patented grins for a moment, until he looked serious, as he continued to stare on the ivory white ceiling.

"Then, Pain attacked, you jumped right in front of me, just in time before I was taken away. But most importantly, you said those three words that stopped me dead in my tracks for a moment."

Hinata didn't say anything, right now; she wanted to hear what Naruto wanted to tell her, "I've never really understood what 'love' was, in a romantic sense. I thought that I just wanted to protect everyone, like Nagato wanted for his precious people. He just wanted to protect his friends that grew as his family."

A silent pause echoed through the room as Naruto then said, "Do you regret anything that you said to me, Hinata?"

"I don't regret anything that I have said, Naruto-kun, it's the truth. I've been in love with you since we were children. That fact will never change." She said with a warm smile that Naruto grinned at.

It was the same sweet Hinata that he had known since they were children, only now, she seemed more confident than anything. Naruto was somewhat proud of what Hinata had become. It was one of the things that made him smile, somewhat, that one of his friends had been

"Well, I don't know, I'm flattered Hinata, but I still don't know. I've been fighting for recognition all of my life. Every time I talk to you, I can't help but feel at ease, with Sakura it's different. I don't know, Hinata, it's just… I don't feel like I can pursue a relationship yet. Hell, I don't even think I should be Hokage at the moment. To me, Tsunade-baa-chan is still the Hokage that loves to drink and gamble all her money when she thinks we don't know." Naruto said that in an amused tone, letting out a small laugh

"Please don't force yourself to answer my confession, Naruto-kun." She immediately said as she looked none too amused.

"Take your time; don't think you can address this whenever you can. I would like it if you take your time and finally know what you truly feel about me. Please don't force yourself."

Sincerity was laced in that voice, Naruto returned his melancholic smile, "Thank you, Hinata. You really do have a way with words. I'm sure you'll make a fine clan head and a great wife someday."

Another set of blushes escaped Hinata's cheeks. She had never expected this though, Naruto suddenly talking about this topic so soon, he didn't accept her, but at least, didn't reject her. She stood up with a smile on her face, somewhat relieved at that moment. She could feel that she still had a chance and said to Naruto, "It's not my nature to give up though, Naruto-kun. You know that's our…"

"I know… Our Nindo." Naruto interjected with a smile, happy that Hinata had accepted his explanation for now. With that, she went away and closed the door.

Naruto could feel himself drift back to sleep.

He had never slept so well before in his life.

* * *

Konoha:

Tsunade sat before three of her ninjas who were kneeling in front of her. It had been nearly two weeks since the battle with Pain and she could feel every muscle in her body ache due to the stasis that they had been put through. Tsunade looked around the tent; her vision was still blurry as she could feel the effects of some of the drugs that had been given to her during her coma, she cursed her dizziness at the moment, the seemingly strong drug had rightfully affected her so.

She was cranky two days ago, more so than she is right now. The noise just outside of her tent two days ago woke her up in such a rude and abrupt manner that her temper flared to volumes of one who was suffering from an alcohol withdrawal. The noise outside was as subtle as a hammer for a ninja, and the battle inside was none too pleasing as well…

Flashback, Two days ago:

_The sound of metal clashing against metal was heard outside of the tent, __with people constantly screaming outside along with techniques pouring out like rainwater._

_A small black mouse had crept into the white tent that Tsunade was sleeping in, it scurried around the vials and bottles of herbs and medicines until it had stopped on an IV stand, the small mouse sniffed and squeaked as it stood on the IV stand. _

_All at once, five beasts made of ink had hopped into the small room as they began to pounce on the seemingly harmless IV stand that instantly popped revealing a Root division member who dodged the attack of the animated creatures. _

_The voice of the man seemed monotonous as he mentioned to the figure that was sitting outside the wall._

"_Are you betraying the organization?"_

_The figure didn't say anything as the ink lions began growling and circling their prey, stalking the victim before finally moving for the kill. The beast to his right, soon lunged at the man who sidestepped and grabbed his blade, slashing it in the abdomen, dispelling the clone, the ink splashed to the floor as the rest of the lions did so while growling and snarling at the man._

_The ink beast to the left then swooped below, attempting to bite the ankle, the ANBU dodged by folding his knees below before jumping and he thrusts his Katana on the ink beast's face dispelling it as well. The said man was about to do a jutsu but he was cut off seeing as the beasts would not let him do anything. The wolves kept chasing the ANBU down on the tent, clashing and avoiding every snarling creature and forcing to run around, taking down medical racks and herbal bottles and medicine shattering on the ground._

_A few minutes into the match, the man was suddenly grabbed by the throat by the hand of one very pissed looking Tsunade, the man was about to stab Tsunade in the gut until she drove the man's face on the glass ridden floor of her tent. Blood splattered on the ground as the man's face was embedded with countless shards of sharp broken glass._

"_I was taking a nap, goddamnit! Can't you little shits be quiet just for once!?"_

_The man was then literally tossed outside colliding with the three Root ANBU forces that served as a decoy._

_Tsunade walked outside, clenching her fists as it began to sound in cracks. The busty Hokage then charged at the three ANBU with a speed that surprised them Tsunade had appeared just right in front of them, about to deliver a devastating kick that could absolutely kill them then sent to lower earth orbit._

_Tsunade shouted in all of her strength, "GET… OUT!"_

_The four ninjas were punted into the air as they felt some of their bones shatter from the Godaime's strength._

_Aoba and Genma were speechless._

_The lady then turned her head around to the three flabbergasted ninja on her back with a scowl on her face as she said, "What the hell is going on here!?"_

_Flashback end:_

Sure enough, halfway to Genma, Aoba and Shizune's explanations, Tsunade was now rubbing her temples on the headaches and paperwork about to be done. For once, just for once she wanted to act sick again and leave the Kage's work behind! She was going to pound Danzo for his insurgency! Nobody messes with the Hokage!

"Alright, where's Danzo? I'm going to give him a beating that he'll never forget before I decide what to do with him."

Tsunade cracked her knuckles for a moment; the three Jounin looked at each other with Aoba saying, "Danzo is in Iron Country, Godaime-sama. Right now, we have sent an approximate two teams to capture and or neutralize any of Danzo's Root forces. He was supposed to assassinate Rokudaime-sama."

Wait, _Rokudaime!?_

"What? Why was a new Hokage instated quickly!? Who's the new Hokage?" Tsunade asked furiously, now both her hands were held on their heads, that was, until Shizune replied to her

"Uzumaki Naruto is the Rokudaime, Tsunade-sama. He was instated in such short notice due to the Kage summit taking place."

Tsunade paled at the name and the event. She could feel her blood draining from her face as she imagined Naruto being in the event as the representative at Konoha, the name Naruto and the words summit and diplomacy could in no way, fit in the same sentence without some sort of catastrophic event.

Tsunade sighed in exasperation as she held her hands high, "Who was the idiot that nominated him in the first place!? He's still far too young, inexperienced in dealing with politics, and the people are letting him run the village!?"

"It was the Lord of Fire, Tsunade-sama. He elected Naruto-sama to his current position with the support of the council. If it wasn't for Naruto-sama, Danzo would have probably been the Rokudaime."

Tsunade wanted Sake, _now._

"There's more to this, isn't there?" Tsunade questioned, all three Jounins in the room looked at each other and shrugged.

Outside, Sai was somewhat feeling nervous, he didn't show it as he didn't know how to, but from his mannerisms, he could feel that he couldn't just report to the Godaime right now. The pale boy then turned around and mumbled, "Somehow, I feel like I'll die when I enter there. I'll just report this when the Rokudaime arrives."

With that, Sai was off going to an apartment that Yamato had created earlier on.

* * *

Iron Country, the next day:

Naruto was in his full uniform, bandages removed as the regeneration of his body finished last night, he was standing in front of the doors on the cell that held the infamous leader of Root. Once inside, Naruto removed his red and black Haori, and sat down on the chair right in front of Danzo. A single drop light was all there was in the room that illuminated the table in between Naruto and Danzo.

"_Hokage-sama_, it is well that you could visit me in this time of the day." He said that statement in a mocking tone.

Naruto merely glared at the man and stared Danzo straight in the eye.

"I don't have any intentions of mundane talk here Danzo, I want answers. Why did you attack the summit?"

Danzo replied, a small grin escaped from his lips, "Why should I tell you? You have no business in knowing about my goals."

Naruto sat there patiently and asked again, "Why did you attack the summit?"

"None of your concern."

Naruto had immediately put up a hand seal and soon found Danzo writhing in agony on his chair, Naruto then asked, "Why did you attack the summit?"

"If I had succeeded, you would see the reason why. Sarutobi thought it was possible to co-exist with the other villages through diplomacy, in case of emergencies within the elemental countries, meetings such as the Five Kages summit is a vital part in regards to peace. I opposed that idea."

Danzo then continued, "Giving a country free reigns upon their agendas as well as privacy is an act of leniency. People are notorious for treachery and switching sides when it is time to bite the knife. Human minds do not work like that."

"People are selfish, greedy, war mongering brutes. They wage wars to gain more from their adversaries and grow strong. Resources are limited, that is why countries clamour to gain more resources to grow from the destruction of others. If you do not sway with the tides, then you shall crash and burn."

"What are you getting at?" Asked Naruto

"I wanted for Konoha to become an empire, a nation worthy to be feared, the five main hidden villages along with the rest of its allies, united under the emblem of Konohagakure no Sato."

Naruto scowled at Danzo, "You intend to conquer the five main hidden villages and in the process, envelop the whole continent under one flag?"

Danzo then replied, "It is truly a shame that I had failed in doing so. We were about to infiltrate as well, it seems like there is a rat among my subordinates."

"What subordinates?" Naruto asked, his scowl never left his face.

Danzo was silenced for a moment there, he eyed Naruto in a scowl of his own as the Rokudaime stood from his seat and turned to his right

"I had the samurai ordered to cut down any ninja that stood in their path. You gave me no choice, as long as you have your cronies with you, shit like this will happen anytime. I can't allow that."

"Then why didn't you finish me off?" Asked Danzo, Naruto merely replied, "I still have questions that need answered."

"Do you think I'll answer after what you've done to me?" Danzo could still feel the lingering effects of the seal. After the boy had sealed away the Sharingan and his chakra, Danzo felt all of his work slip away from his hands. How a sculptor loses his hands in making statues, Danzo lost the defining factor that made him a ninja, nothing would ever bring his dream to ever come true right now. All he had, was a useless transplanted right eye, and his own crippled body. Nothing could ever be crueler than living through life without the thing that you held so dear with you.

"I'm the one asking questions Danzo, you're not supposed to ask one." Naruto retorted.

"You're not very good at it."

"Don't test me, bastard." Naruto threatened, his anger was about to show its head again, Danzo seemed unfazed. Naruto then approached Danzo and held the man by the collar.

"I want to know one thing, did you wipe my memories during my childhood? As vague as a memory of a three year old is, there has to be at least my memory of my mother in there. Did you have something to do with it?"

Danzo, had that gleam in his eye for a moment, a gesture that Naruto hadn't noticed, Danzo replied in a calm voice, "Do you want to know?"

Naruto remained silent, Danzo replied, that gleam from his eye never vanished, "I suggested it to the advisers once word had gotten out that Kushina was killed."

Danzo continued, "It is well known that Jinchuuriki manifest their powers when they are upset, childhood is a very important for the host to develop a sound mind. Without someone to guide you, your mental state would have collapsed as soon as you found out about your mother's demise. You'd be taciturn; your mood changes would have brought out destruction of the village, so I told the advisors of Sarutobi of a way to prevent that."

"So in order to do that, you wiped out my memories of my mother!?" Asked Naruto, Danzo merely replied, "You sound like it was I who ordered that your memory be altered. I only gave the suggestion."

"Let me tell you something, Rokudaime. All decisions regarding about you back then should be filtered by the Hokage before being approved. Why do you think I haven't had the chance to use you as the ultimate soldier for my armies? Why do you think you were so untouchable when you were a child? The most awful thing ever being done to you was the ignorance and stares from the villagers." Danzo asked rhetorically, Naruto merely stood silent as he stared at Danzo in contempt. He shoved the man back to his chair and walked to the side of the table.

"If anything, you should blame Hiruzen. He was the one who authorized to do what happened to you." Danzo replied, Naruto shouted to the man, "Shut up!"

Naruto grabbed a kunai from his pouch and tossed it on the table near Danzo. He wouldn't believe what this man would say. No, there was no way the Sandaime would allow that to happen to him, he wouldn't do that to him! The man he trusted was like the grandfather he never had! He would never do this, never approve of it!

"Oh? In denial are we? How much time did you spend with Sarutobi, how many times did he look so distant and so thoughtful when he stared at you? Like something he had regret as he was with you? You have been desensitized by his sugar coated words and kindness that you have forgotten what he did to you. Oh wait, you wouldn't remember because your memories were altered." Danzo replied, Naruto seemed to freeze at that for a moment. He didn't look at the crippled war hawk at that moment. Naruto clenched his fists.

"There is no black and white, all there is, is the shade of gray. There is no absolute in this world except for life and death. The Sandaime, for all his intents and purposes, is much of a sinner as I am." Danzo explained, chuckling from his seat. Naruto couldn't stand the man anymore, he exited the room and closed the door behind, slamming it shut.

Naruto walked outside in haste. He began climbing the stairs in his own pace, troubled from Danzo's statement, the young leader then cursed under his breath and angrily pounded on the wall with his right hand, cursing Danzo's name as he did so. Never had he thought Konoha housed skeletons in its closet better left unknown, and it seemed to involve a lot of the prominent families that reside within Konoha as well. Be it a member of the Hokage's family or an infamous clan, there seemed to be countless secrets that Tsunade herself didn't even know.

Once he had met with his subordinates near his quarters, he said to them, "Prepare for the journey back to Konoha, the sooner we get there, the sooner we settle things over there. I need to find out what happened to Tsunade-baa-chan, and question the advisors on their decisions."

In quick haste, the Konoha ninja saluted to their leader and began doing as they were told.

* * *

Outside of the Fanged Maw, eastern exit, two hours later:

Naruto crouched down as he waited for his subordinates to come down, he had met two teams of Konoha Shinobi, possibly there to provide as a backup against the attempted coup, Naruto then told them that Danzo was located in a prison cell below, just ask for the name with his authorization.

Once that was done, Naruto bit his thumb and summoned one of the elder toads again.

Fukasaku appeared from the summoning circle and the smoke, coughing a little as he said to his summoner, "Why did you bring me out here, Naruto-chan?"

"I want to know more about Fuinjutsu, Fukasaku-sensei. Also, I'd like to ask you something about the Nature chakra; it seemed I accidentally mixed Nature Chakra and Kyuubi's during my fight with Danzo. I thought that the Nature chakra would repel the bijuu's chakra, but it found a moment where it remained in perfect synchronization."

Fukasaku's eyes widened as he looked at the young Sage, "Are you saying, that the Nature chakra found itself neutralizing the effect of the Kitsune's youki?"

Naruto nodded, "In a manner of speaking, yeah. I was able to synchronize myself with the Nature chakra. I developed the same heightened senses as I did with the fox's chakra. What was surprising though, was that I felt the seal on my stomach released a total of six tails worth of chakra, but I didn't even form the chakra cloak, and I could do the same tricks as when I use the bijuu."

Naruto looked thoughtful for a moment and continued, "It had a terrible side-effect though, I suffered internal bleeding and some major blood vessels had popped, Sakura said that I suffered an aneurysm and it was only thanks to the Kyuubi's regeneration that I survived."

Fukasaku began to think as he sat on the snow covered ground, contemplating on what might have triggered such a repulsion of chakra inside Naruto like that. If the Nature chakra could synch with the Kyuubi's chakra, why hasn't it occurred during the invasion? Why would the Kyuubi reject the fusion with Fukasaku?

After much deliberation, Fukasaku jumped to the shoulders of the blonde and began his explanation.

"I think I may have a clue as to why the body had suffered that much damage."

Naruto seemed intrigued by this, "What?"

"Do you know the aspect between Yin and Yang?" Fukasaku asked his student, Naruto shook his head.

"That's understandable. Yin and Yang are two parts of a whole, the equilibrium or balance. Yin is the spiritual aspect or in this case, mental aspect. It is the spiritual part of chakra. Dominant Yin jutsu use more of the mind aspect. In this case, an example of a Yin dominant jutsu is the Nara clan's shadow techniques. Yin is stasis, inactivity, cold."

Fukasaku then continued, "Now, the Yang aspect is the physical aspect of your chakra. Dominant Yang jutsu primarily involve changing bodily functions and structures. An example would be the activation of the Hachimon (Eight Gates) since it removes the limiters to one's body, the Yang aspect increases the strain that the muscles can take and along with it, reaction time and reflexes. Yang is compulsion, activity, hot. Do you follow, Naruto-chan?"

Naruto nodded. Fukasaku smiled as he continued, "Good, now Nature chakra has the Yin and Yang aspect the same as normal chakra, only that nature chakra is vastly more potent than a human's. Though it is Yin dominated, it doesn't mean it is spiritual in absolute, nature chakra still has the basic physical and spiritual components. Now, if I remember correctly, the Yondaime separated the chakras of the Kyuubi, sealing the Yang chakra in you and then the Yin chakra into the toad scroll that Jiraiya-chan left us."

"The chakra repulsion of Nature chakra and the Kyuubi's resulted in the inadequacy of the Yin chakra to complete the cycle of Yin and Yang. Simply put, the Yang forces of both chakras are fighting to gain the Yin chakra rather than co-exist. The overloaded Yang chakra, instead of fusing with the cells, end up pushing each other outwards in an adverse effect, that's why it caused so much damage within the body."

Naruto simplified Fukasaku's statement, "In other words, the problem with me is that I don't have enough of the spiritual aspect of chakra and the incomplete energy is fighting for the limited amount?"

Fukasaku nodded, "That is from what I can surmise. If you want to use it without limiting your usage, then there's no other way but for you to fuse with the Yin chakra of the Kyuubi."

Naruto turned silent for a moment; it was happening a lot lately. He didn't know why, but it seemed after being Hokage, he had come to reflect upon decisions that he has to make before finally giving an answer. Somehow, thinking things through before deciding was making his head a lot clearer.

"I'll do it." Was Naruto's only reply before he continued, "But not before finishing some of my obligations in the village for a few days, I need master Fuinjutsu anyway, it would take me months, or even a few years, but I certainly need the help to do it. I've only got the basics down, and with this war that's about to happen, the Sealing arts would play a vital part in it."

Fukasaku nodded, "Then, I'll have a sealing chamber prepared once you're done in Konoha. But are you prepared, Naruto-chan? This training could eventually kill you and force the Kyuubi back into the world of the living."

Naruto could only reply with a nod as he said, "Taking risks is a gamble that's paid off for me for quite some time. This may be my biggest challenge yet, but any chance of getting stronger is a chance I'm willing to take. I can't let Madara do what he wants, and if this is one of the opportunities presented to me for getting stronger, then so be it."

Fukasaku could only nod, as solemn as it is. There was only deafening silence outside Iron Country, with only the winter winds howling up on the skies.

* * *

Different Location:

A short middle aged man stood over an axe that was wedged in the bark of a tree, the man had thick eyebrows, as thick as a leech that was sucking up blood. His hair, kept back by trying it in a punch perm bun. The man wore a traditional white Shihakusho and black Hakama over several layers of fishnet armour kept together by a black Obi tied around his waist.

The man then began to sing with his voice in a slow, rhythmic fashion, "Oh, shinobi~! Ever concealed~! Crying silent tears~!"

The man began to shake in passion as he held his closed right fist closed to his head as if to stop an overwhelming sense of accomplishment and excitement.

"You cannot simply sing! Enka is an expression of one's heart and soul!" The man said trying to curb his passion for the said object.

"Now, see if you can match me!" Said the man, down below, a hulking giant of a dark person stood, wearing sunglasses to hide his eyes, hair kept back, two swords strapped on his back, with the hilts popping up just behind his right shoulder. A long scarf that surrounded his neck, his big muscular body was only covered with only leather armour and a rope like obi over his black pants.

"Shinobi~! Sneaking about, yeah! Escaping from death~!"

However unlike his teacher, the man couldn't very well contain his passionate emotion in music.

"YYYEEEEAAAAHHH!" The man shouted raising his right hand in an 'I love you' sign.

The giant tanuki on the back of the man only stared at Killer Bee for a few seconds.

An awkward silence permeated the forest for a few seconds.

"This is going to be a lot of work…" Sabu uttered to himself holding the bridge of his nose and palming his forehead as he bowed his head.

Sabu then lectured the new student about the art of Enka, "You do not have the passion! The passion! Are you not taking the song lightly? Do you not think so? Do you not see!?"

Killer Bee scratched his head at this, "Passion?"

Sabu then raised his arms exuberantly, "Yes, passion! As the name suggests, expressing the world of song through passion is the very heart of Enka! Of course, melodic embellishment! You must form your notes in your chest and circulate them in your nose!"

The giant Tanuki growled a little as it felt a new presence entering the small clearing.

Sabu looked at his pet in concern and alertness "What is it, Ponta?"

Out from the shadows, it stepped closer into the light, as both men heard the steps of sandals hitting the ground. The men stood in caution as the man's robes flapped into the cold air, his black cloak embroiled in red clouds danced at the end. The man gave a sinister laugh as he held the golden hilt of his overbearing sword, the man's blue skin was a dead give-away for both men.

There stood in front of them, was the sadistic smile of the ever violent, Hoshigaki Kisame. The man had never looked this amused his entire life.

To be continued…

* * *

Eh, I honestly don't know what to say this chapter other than revealing the drawbacks of Naruto's new power and a past that was forcefully forgotten. I told all of you that Naruto and Hinata's talk was not romantic, and here it is; hope you weren't all disappointed (as I said before that it wasn't going to be) seeing as I tried my best to maintain their friendship at the same time try to see both characters in a new light. Also, hooray! Tsunade's not dead! For everyone that says Danzo should die, oh he will, eventually. But before he does, he'll get a taste of what being a pawn feels like. As they say, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. All who guessed it was Kushina, you all get virtual cake! Granted, it was somewhat a hallucination on Naruto's part but eh, whatever.

Author rants on current Manga chapter: (those who haven't read the current chapter, you are advised to skip this, on, I'm serious!) Hah! This proves removal or damages of the Akatsuki cloak means the removal of the invincible plot armour that these people had been experiencing, (Sasori, Deidara, Itachi, Pein, Hidan, Kakuzu and now, Kisame). It is not a theory anymore, it is a LAW! :D Other than that, another badass chapter courtesy of Killer Bee and Raikage's double Lariat. Sad though, that Kisame's death was lacklustre. :(

* * *

**Reply no Jutsu**: Well here's another section of reply no Jutsu. So here I was reading all the anonymous posts about power comes at a price thing, it certainly is an interesting debate, but again, we can't compare these two until there's an actual confrontation (Won't be long in my view of the things going on in the Manga). Actually basing this on the last data book translated, heh, anyway, here's what you call a parallelism as descendants of the Uchiha and Senju

Sasuke inherited the gift of the eye, the Sharingan from the elder brother.

Naruto inherited the gift of the body (God that feels wrong somehow), from the younger.

Sasuke's pesky limiter is the Mangekyou Sharingan that is his epitome of power. He goes blind every time he uses it.

Naruto's pesky limiter is yet to be determined, but could very well be the remaining half of Kyuubi's chakra not given to him, he still has Itachi's 'gift' mind you, as in something that would give Naruto an edge over say, Sasuke or Madara. As the one who has inherited the 'body' of the Rikudo Sennin, continuous exposure to the new state or the Kyuubi's chakra would result in deterioration of the precious body (Again; that feels so wrong coming from a male author).

Sasuke's limiter would be removed with the EMS. However, controlling the bijuu from Sasuke would be utterly useless against a fully synchronized Naruto. Therefore, puts Sasuke back down, (Killer Bee fight IIRC)

Naruto's limiter would be removed with the full synchronization with his bijuu. The author of this fanfic has determined that the limiter would be removed as explained in this chapter about the Yin and Yang.

Ironically enough, I got the idea from Tsukuyomi and Amaterasu.

Tsukuyomi, Spiritual world and Darkness (Seishinkai to Yami) Yin

Amaterasu, Material world and Light (Bushitsukai to Hikari) Yang

* * *

Here's to hoping more reviews! Also, crap, I can't even have a good start on The Uzumaki Law and I'm stuck in spirit of life, I've placed them on the experimental stories for now. If this keeps up, I'm letting them up for adoption.


	9. Ripple

The Hokage's Will

Chapter Nine: Ripple

* * *

Kisame chuckled darkly as he looked at Killer Bee in an amused expression. A smile escaped his lips revealing a sharp set of teeth, Samehada (Shark skin) on his shoulder.

His sword had been rather hard headed in chasing down the tantalizing chakra trail that the Eight Tailed host had left behind.

Out of all the swords of the Shinobi Gatana Shichinin Shu (Seven Ninja Swordsmen), Samehada had been the most terrifying and the only sentient sword that was ever crafted from Kiri. Many had said that the very sword itself was made from the hide of the Sanbi (Three Tails), and it was the Yondaime Mizukage, Yagura himself, the one who had forged the blade and handed it over to Kisame, his most trusted adjutant.

Never would anyone know more about it except for Kisame. And Kisame had never stated anything about his past, for he didn't care, nor was he willing to say anything about the matter. The only thing important to Kisame was a good fight and a good fight was all he had wanted.

"It was a pain too much trouble when Samehada became rather persistent in tracking you down eight tails, but I can see that your delicious chakra is well worth the trouble." Kisame said in a calm fashion, showing that toothy smile.

The giant racoon named Ponta, growled and leaned down, ready to pounce the Akatsuki any given chance. Kisame then set his sword down, as he lowered himself to a stance, the tip of Samehada touching the ground.

It was then that the giant racoon jumped straight to Kisame, who didn't seem to flinch even a little.

* * *

Iron Country:

"Why is she travelling with us again?" Asked an annoyed Sakura to no one in particular, pointing to the two Kages at her front. The Mizukage was somewhat overly forward; what with her arms wrapped around to their Hokage's left arm pressing it into her ample bosom. Naruto was feeling dishevelled and turned to a bag of stutters and incoherent words from the Mizukage's affectionate gestures.

Shikamaru merely gave an obvious answer, "Water Country is located directly to our east, Sakura. It is no surprise why they would travel with us."

"She doesn't have to be so clingy though." Sakura mumbled while gritting her teeth.

Kakashi, who was unabashedly reading his book in front of his subordinates and underclassmen, replied as he turned a page, "It's just the way how men in power and women work. Ever saw what happened in Konoha before Hokage-sama left?"

Sakura seemed to recall screams from both men and women alike during the speech; however, something loomed in the little corner where most of the women were. She hadn't noticed it at first, but as soon as she thought about it, she saw the same virus that had affected her whenever she was near Sasuke, somehow spreading through the women as they saw the Hokage.

Fangirls.

Of course, she could somewhat understand the women. Naruto was indeed someone to look up to, and with looks that are a striking resemblance to the Fourth Hokage, who was in no way ugly at the least, it was perfectly normal.

"But it still doesn't excuse her behaviour." Sakura declared. Ao was looking ashamed as he scratched the back of his head and bowed apologetically.

"I am terribly sorry about our leader. Mizukage-sama is just terribly distressed of the fact that she has yet to have a potential marriage candidate, she's about to near the age of twenty-six, and she's finding it harder and harder to search for a man to settle down with and well…" Ao said, to his side, the glasses wearing swordsman was somewhat downtrodden.

"Oh don't be such a gloomy little boy, Choujuro. You're a man, and there are plenty of fish in the sea! Stand tall and make Kiri proud, boy!" Ao commented, making the boy stand up straight.

Sakura was still glaring at the two Kages in front, feeling upset and annoyed at the woman. Shikamaru who was smirking merely replied, "Why Sakura, don't tell me that you're j…"

"Finish that sentence and I'll shove my fist down your throat."

Shikamaru sighed and made a simple reply, "Whatever."

Okay, try to make light of the situation, Shikamaru was never doing that again for Sakura. He forgot how hot headed the pinkette can be. He swore that the three of them (Sasuke, Sakura and Naruto) were siblings; they all had things in common one way or another.

"You should take your own advice though, Sakura." Kakashi interjected and turning another page as he continued.

"You may have the right to tell the Hokage on what he should have done, but keep in mind he's your superior now. Though I'm really proud of you for not pounding his head in between his shoulders, you know the decorum."

Sakura looked at the scene in front of her and frowned, "I know. It's just I can't keep myself from worrying about him when he's like that."

"We all do, Sakura. But it's just a part of who he is. The Hokage is as reckless as Shikamaru is as difficult to motivate." Replied Neji, Sakura sighed in aggravation as she gently elbowed Hinata, who had her Byakugan active.

"Hinata, how much further are we from the village? The sooner we get there, the better."

Hinata somewhat snapped away from her focus as she said, somewhat stammering from losing her focus, "I-I'm sorry, Sakura-san. I wasn't focusing on the road, but I believe that the border is still far from here."

Shikamaru instantly remarked, "And now we have the Hyuuga heiress being jealous as well. Is it just me? Or is the brunt of the female race after me and Naruto for some reason?"

Sakura merely gave Shikamaru a glare. The pineapple headed chuunin turned his head up and said, "Troublesome."

"I am curious though." Gai looked thoughtful, Kakashi merely listened in, it was one of these moments that Gai had insightful views on some things that had gained his interest. Gai may have been eccentric, but Naruto had placed faith in the green wearing man's skill and prowess. He wasn't the originator and the master of the Gouken for nothing.

"Why would Hokage-sama keep Danzo alive? He's a dangerous criminal and even if he has no more subordinates at his disposal, there's nothing left for the man."

Kakashi reiterated, "It may only be a hunch, but Rokudaime-sama said he has a plan to reduce Akatsuki's numbers by at least more than half. Danzo may be what is needed to lure them out."

Shikamaru seemed to frown at this as he asked, "Why would the Hokage use that bastard as bait then? He's too dangerous; he knows more secrets in Konoha than the Godaime. I'm sure any village that hates Konoha would be itching to get info on our village"

Kakashi merely looked at the Nara genius and replied, "That question would solely be answered by the Hokage himself at his own discretion. The reason for using Danzo is a secret that could very well shatter Konoha's beliefs. The people were sympathetic to Sasuke when his clan was killed. Not to mention, every ninja clan in Konoha would place their utter distrust on Konoha's administrative policies, creating a civil war in Konoha worse than Danzo's usurpation."

Kakashi then went back to reading his book, "Though, I suppose we can't confirm it yet. For all we know, Madara could only be lying to us to cause internal strife within Konoha while the rest of the alliance tries to fight off Akatsuki."

Shikamaru didn't need to further his inquisition on the masked Jounin. Naruto would be the one the open this topic to them in due time. He hoped that the rest of the people would feel the same way as well.

* * *

Secluded Location:

Kisame merely tilted his head in amusement as he saw the giant racoon jumping straight at him with claws outstretched. The shark-man then swung his sword to the ground as his toothy smirk grew. Instantly, Kisame swung his blade sideward, parrying the gigantic blow of the bear holding Samehada with just his right hand.

Kisame then deflected the blow with one mighty swing, recoiling Ponta's claw back and Kisame gave a simple straight kick with his left leg, straight at Ponta's exposed abdomen. The thunderous attack made Ponta stagger as he was sent flying away from Kisame and colliding to several dry tree barks.

Kisame continued his toothy grin as he said with a smile, "For a giant bear, you sure don't put up much of a fight."

Kisame instantly leaned back and watched as pencil infused with lightning chakra whizzed by him in mere millimetres from his face before whizzing through a tree bark and embedding itself on a rock behind it.

'_Those must be some vibrations if it can even h__ave the piercing ability of a Futon. I have to be careful of this one.'_ Kisame looked to his side seeing Killer Bee had been the one to have thrown that pencil, Kisame simply smirked.

Sabu immediately dislodged the wedged gigantic axe from the tree bark and jumped down, holding the weapon on his shoulders, Sabu tapped his left foot forward and said, "Ponta is a racoon!"

The Enka Nin then lunged at Kisame and shouted, "Taste my passion!"

Brandishing the giant axe, he swung it vertically overhead as Kisame held Samehada in one hand and blocked the deadly strike. To his left, he immediately saw a Katana being hurled straight at him like the pencil did before as it whizzed through his compromised position. The Akatsuki member looked at his back and saw that Killer Bee was approaching at him fast. Kisame instantly knew he was cornered to a position that left him vulnerable from the eight tails.

As Killer Bee swooped in to finish the job, sword coated with lightning chakra, Kisame slid Samehada down for a moment, exposing its head when the bandages tore off from the blade of Sabu's axe. The sword clashed with Samehada as the one that flew slid on another piece of bandage that covered the overbearing weapon. The white cloth fell down, and Killer Bee could see the monster of the hidden mist's sword contorted and convulsed in front of him, as the intended effect of his sword vanished.

Kisame kicked Sabu back, sending the Enka Nin flying and landing on Ponta's stomach, as Kisame bore down on Killer Bee with his monstrous strength.

"Hoshigaki Kisame, do remember my name." Said the fish man, with a smirk that could intimidate even the most hardened shinobi

"Samehada is getting very happy from the chakra it has been eating." Kisame said in amused chuckle Killer Bee replied, "You, I'm gonna beat! With my fists, I'll knock your teeth!"

Bubbles of chakra began pouring from around Killer Bee, as the said area began to feel the chakra and malicious killing intent radiating from the eight tailed host.

"WHEE!" Killer Bee could suddenly feel himself getting stronger, his strength boosting from the upgrade of the Eight Tails' chakra.

Sabu, who had recovered from the blow of the blue man's attack, looked hopeful when he saw the chakra shroud that surrounded the eight tails like a second rippling skin. His joy wouldn't last however, as the sword from Kisame's hands suddenly spiked to new levels as it began tearing itself from the bandages, extending and contorting inside as the tailed beast's chakra was instantly absorbed by the grotesque looking sword that now had its mouth at the tip of the blade gaping and reaching for Killer Bee.

Kisame's ferocious grin grew again as he chuckled and shouldered his weapon to his shoulders, "Now you've done it. You made Samehada thoroughly excited from your chakra."

With a mighty swing, Kisame shouted, "**OOOORRRRRRRRAAAAAHHH!**" and slashed down the sword straight at Killer Bee who had instantly dodged the blow. The ground beneath the two shattered as fissures suddenly formed and rocks flew upwards from the force of impact. Killer Bee backed away from the site of destruction as the ground was levelled from Kisame's strength.

Samehada then popped from the ground upwards, erecting itself from the ground as it dashed its way to Killer Bee, the ground beneath formed a straight fissure to Killer Bee looked around as four more of the said blades popped from the ground and surrounded him from all sides. Killer Bee's head turned around as the swords crashed their way towards him fast. The earth gave a thunderous explosion as dust and debris flew upwards from the force of the blow.

Kisame popped his head from the ground and slowly rose from a fair distance, smirking as he hefted the blade to his shoulder. He had hit the Hachibi dead on from that last attack, and with the chakra cloak ineffective against him, the Eight Tailed host's reliance on the bijuu's chakra was practically pointless to someone like him. He was trained to wield Samehada, trained to fight and win against Jinchuuriki and bijuu, he knew how these people rely on chakra based attacks and area of effect jutsu that can cause massive devastation. Due to their overwhelming sources of chakra, Jinchuuriki were considered super soldiers of any hidden village. Kisame was trained to fight that threat. Instead of withstanding the overwhelming force of their attacks, Kisame would absorb theirs and use the chakra absorbed by Samehada and attack. In essence, his former village had trained him to be the perfect counter, the anti-jinchuuriki.

As he viewed the smoke settling itself, Kisame was suddenly surprised as he saw a solitary black sphere the size of a man in the middle. Kisame kept his guard up; he had not experienced this kind of form from any jinchuuriki he had faced. If the dense chakra reverberating in the atmosphere was any indication, Kisame would duly note to brace himself from what was about to happen.

Moments earlier:

_It was looking bleak, no matter what attack that he threw against the Akatsuki member, that ugly __sword kept absorbing his chakra making his offensive strikes absolutely useless, Lariat with the chakra cloak was out of the question. If that sword can take a full force of the Eight Tails' chakra while using it, then Lariat would be utterly useless._

'_**Damn it, Bee! It looks like they sent someone more competent! He's the pe**__**rfect counter to any of our attacks! What are we going to do? How about we go for Version Two?'**_

_Killer Bee grinned and said to the bijuu sealed inside him, 'If we want to beat this foo__', I say we go for Version Two!'_

_Hachibi gleefully nodded and said to his host, '__**Version two it is then!'**_

_With the impact about to come at him at that second, the brown bijuu chakra seeped out of Killer Bee and surrounded him once more like a shroud, however, this time, the shroud's 'tails' began to surround killer bee like a cocoon__…_

Present time:

The black sphere then began to vibrate slowly, shaking mildly before violently shattering like glass, winds and gale forces had pushed Kisame back his sandals skidding to the ground as he grappled it with the use of Samehada. As the epicentre of the black sphere let out a powerful chakra blast four black tails sprouted from the middle shaking and swaying as the form of the man that was Killer Bee revealed itself from the dust now covered in black with the bijuu's potent chakra, the bijuu compressed into human form let out acrid smoke from its mouth as the dense chakra of the bijuu permeated in the air radiating with killing intent so much that even Sabu had to support himself on a tree bark as Killer Bee flexed his left arm.

Bone began to coalesce on his shoulder coming together like permeable liquid and forming a skull of a horned bull. Killer Bee's left arm shook at the absolute intensity of the chakra being collected on his left arm forming the bull's skull.

"**Lariat!**" Killer Bee then appeared in front of Kisame giving his vicious clothesline attack straight at Kisame's chest who parried with his sword, trying to absorb the immense chakra of the attack.

The force of the attack forced Kisame back as he suddenly felt alarmed that Samehada was becoming sluggish all of a sudden, the chakra being absorbed from the Eight Tailed host was too much! Samehada can't take it all at once!

It was then that Samehada was parried away from Kisame and Killer Bee ploughed through Kisame through his immense force, hitting Kisame straight in the chest, as his cloak was shredded to bits. His ribs, blood vessels, skin and muscle were crushed from the devastating blow.

Kisame was flung back by the force of the blow from Killer Bee, smashing through rocks and trees sending him crashing on to a giant tree as blood fell from his chest. Kisame began to cough blood from his mouth. However, despite from the immense and excruciating pain he is currently experiencing, the monster of the hidden mist remained let out a smile and said, "That was a good attack. You got me."

Killer Bee somewhat sighed in relief as his chakra cloak died down. He looked at Kisame who was still smirking despite the fatal injury. Killer Bee was about to finish Kisame off, as he grabbed one of his swords and dashed at the man. It was then that Killer Bee had suddenly stopped as he saw Samehada suddenly surging from the ground and back to Kisame's hands.

"Hehehehe, you didn't think it was over just like that did you?" Kisame asked, as Samehada's handle began to extend and slither its way to Kisame's hands, the chakra absorbed earlier began its process of regenerating Kisame's injuries, closing the wound carved on his chest as bones began to reform and regenerate, tendons and muscles began attaching and realigning itself as a perfectly new skin had reformed and covered his body once again, smoke had danced to where the injury had been, and Kisame gave a deep breath as he gave that toothy grin of his.

"I get stronger the stronger my opponent is. I never get tired and I can't be defeated. That why they call me the beast with no tail."

Sabu had immediately deduced Kisame's ability, "His sword! It's his most lethal weapon! Bee if you can grab that sword, you can utterly stop him!"

Kisame then clapped his hands together, he cheeks puffed up as his neck stretched Sabu could actually feel the amount of chakra that Kisame was moulding from the fish man's mouth. In one hurling motion, Water gushed like a raging tsunami as Kisame shouted menacingly,

"Suiton: Daibakusuishouha! (Water Release: Great Exploding Water Colliding Wave)"

The raging Tsunami reached a height of fifty feet as it gushed through the forest like a broken dam, taking Killer Bee, Sabu and Ponta with the surge of waves. Amidst the raging waters that unceremoniously put a large part of the forest underwater, Kisame stood with Samehada merging, scales began to define more as his head and back grew a fin and on the apex of his buttocks grew a tail. The interlaces of his fingers and feet grew webbed, as three sets of gills grew from each side of his neck. Kisame's appearance grew much more predatory as his smile grew.

"Grab my sword you say? I'd let you do that…" Kisame menacingly floated above Sabu and Killer Bee as he continued, "If you can separate it from my body that is."

Kisame leaned forward as his unrivalled speed underwater kicked in and swam towards Killer Bee.

The Eight Tailed host soon changed back to his compressed beast form made a quick dash towards Sabu and Ponta, swimming through the dome of the water while grabbing both the Enka Nin and his pet.

"You can't escape. You're too much in a disadvantage!" Kisame began picking up speed, as he began swerving towards Killer Bee.

"**Damn it, Bee! He's faster underwater! We can't run forever, we'll die faster this way!"**

It was then that the Eight Tailed host reached for the edge of the underwater prison and swerved to his left swimming as fast as he could.

Killer Bee suddenly saw Kisame, instead of going after him, went after Sabu and Ponta. Inwardly, the Eight Tailed host cursed and swam back as Kisame's fins on his forearms revealed needles about to stab the two.

Killer Bee had suddenly cut in front, but not before Kisame turning to the eight tailed host, giving him one of his infamously devious and playfully dangerous smiles as the black chakra cloak receded revealing Killer Bee underneath.

"You fell for it!" Said Kisame as he swam towards Killer Bee and bumped the man with the side of his fin. It was then that four cephalopod tentacles had emerged from the tails that Killer Bee had, and began strangling Kisame far away from Sabu and Ponta as possible. As soon as the two were safe, the cephalopods again receded back into the transparent chakra cloak as Kisame chuckled, "Just merely touching me would result in your chakra being drained. I hope you aren't having trouble breathing. It would be so bothersome to explain to my boss why you suffocated from my Suiro Same Odori no Jutsu (Water Prison Shark Dance). Of course, I tend to make some 'mistakes' along the way."

Killer Bee began pushing bubbles out of his lungs, finding it harder and harder to breathe now that his chakra levels were getting weaker. He could still perform a full transformation; he just needed to make sure he got away from this man as soon as possible. Gathering chakra in his mouth, Killer bee had let his cheeks puff out and leaned his body slightly back as he began spewing ink around Kisame's area. The whole water dome had suddenly been enveloped in black smog, spreading through the gigantic blob of water.

Once Killer Bee had spread the ink, he then swam as far as he could. But it would not be as Kisame, when merged with Samehada, has an ability to detect the chakras around him, he could feel how close or how far they are, and as Bee was about to reach the edge of the dome, Kisame had swerved towards the Eight Tailed host and instantly grappled him…

Outside:

The clear blue water of the dome had suddenly turned pitch black from the ink spray, the water had then, like a bubble, had burst and popped.

Kisame's form then receded back as Samehada began to take its sword form once again. At the sudden turn of events, Killer Bee had jumped back and his chakra cloak was activated once more. This time, the eight tailed host expanded the chakra within him as shouted, "Man was I filled with dread, I thought I was dead!"

The chakra then expanded in size, as the tails began turning to cephalopods again, with the chakra expanding and solidifying once it reached its peak height, Killer Bee continued as the form of the Eight Tails had appeared in all its glory.

"**Fish face, let me tell you about MY situation…**"Red and blue globules of chakra then popped up from the right tailed beast, as it began collecting it at its mouth, the chakra became condensed to a point it appeared as black as the sphere it had earlier, the ball then compressed, the energy grew volatile as the surge of chakras grew more and more violent as each second passed. It was then that the eight tails bit the small orb of chakra and then aimed it at Kisame.

"**I'****m the undisputed king of destruction!"**

Kisame was instantly on it, from what he could feel from that attack, it would certainly be devastating enough to tear him apart down to the last cell, he held out Samehada upwards and jumped aiming for the Beast's head.

The eight tailed ox turned its head upwards as the energy for its own Imari (Menacing Ball) reached into maximum levels, as the charge up ended, the gigantic beast leaned back a little and braced its forearms on the ground, and fired the blast from its mouth.

**BOOM!**

A resounding explosion was heard all around the forest as the force of the recoil sent winds surpassing one hundred kilometres per hour streaming around the eight tailed beast, blowing anything around it, the ground beneath the beast gave in from the impact, shattering and embedding the beast below. The stream of red light streaked through the winter laden sky upwards forcing a portion of the thick clouds to give way as the blast opened a hole in the cloud ridden sky.

"**Did we get him?" **Killer Bee asked as the beast's head looked around.

"Did what get who?" The voice had suddenly interrupted. Kisame had instantly appeared on top of one of the giant bull's horns with Samehada now larger than Kisame himself placed firmly on the fish-man's shoulders.

"That was a pretty nasty attack just now, if it wasn't for the fact that I anticipated such an obvious attack, I doubt I'd be standing here down to the last cell."

Kisame chuckled as he hefted Samehada above his head.

"You lose, Eight Tails!" Kisame shouted, swinging Samehada down on the Eight Tails' head. Chakra began to be absorbed by the blade as Kisame slashed down, the eight tailed ox howled in as its chakra was siphoned away, crashing down on the ground the crater below caved in lower as the eight tailed beast receded back to its host.

Kisame smiled as he raised his sword again and said as he was about to swipe down the blade, "It would be such a pain if you could move. It's better to cut off your leg and so that you can't escape."

Just as he was about to slash down on Killer Bee's leg, a sudden shuriken had been flung from behind him, Kisame leaned his head to the left and turned around in surprise, and found three Kumo Nin who had suddenly appeared in the area.

"You're too late!" Kisame yelled as he motioned for Samehada to take off Bee's legs.

Just as the blade was about to make contact on the ground, Samehada grappled itself on the ground hindering any further progress to finish what he had started.

'_Samehada doesn't want to hurt the target!?' _Kisame clicked his tongue in annoyance at the sudden turn of events. In aggravation to his predicament, Kisame punted Samehada by the hilt as it refused to obey his actions.

The heavy sword fell to the side as suddenly jumped back when myriads of light energy began raining down his area,

"Ranton: Reiza Sakasu! (Storm Release: Laser Circus)"

Darui shouted, the projectiles of light streams blasting around Kisame and trailing him like bloodthirsty hounds. Kisame ducked in perfect timing as a ray of light went past him and exploded forcing Kisame to step away from the area that Killer Bee had laid.

Kisame saw Samehada had found its way to the side of the eight tailed host as the its handle wriggled and slithered its way to Killer Bee and began replenishing him with the chakra he had absorbed earlier.

He somewhat feared that this would happen with his sword. The former Mizukage had warned him of Samehada's over indulgence. It could betray him at any given moment if he kept absorbing chakra from a single source. It so happened that the Eight Tails had a lot of chakra and used a lot of it in his attacks, he paid no heed however, as from past experiences with the blade had concluded it to him that Samehada's hunger for chakra seemed insatiable. Now, it seemed that even Samehada had a limit to how much it can absorb.

The Eight Tailed host stood up slowly, as he felt his chakras replenished.

"Now that your ugly sword is through, get ready for round two!" Killer Bee stood erect now as the chakra that he had lost earlier had returned back to him; he stretched his arms and flexed it as he smirked. His brother then shouted,

"Bee! I go high, you go low!"

"Gothca' bro!" was his immediate reply.

Kisame clasped his hands together to form a water jutsu sequencing fast as the two approaching ninja had surrounded themselves in their respective auras.

"Suiton: Goukoudan no Jutsu! (Water Release: Great Shark Bullet)" Kisame then leaned back once again, as liquid began collecting in his mouth and spat out fluid smashing on the ground, creating another tidal wave within the dense wood area. The water surged violently as it took form of a gigantic shark flailing in the air, about the same size as the giant racoon, Ponta. It then sent itself diving towards the brothers who had jumped earlier and landed on top of the water. The Raikage and Killer Bee watched as the imposing water shark dived towards them at great speeds, splashing and exploding upon contact, sending particles of water splashing everywhere on the ground. Kisame smirked as he saw the Raikage stand before him. He looked around everywhere his neck could bend normally.

The Raikage had charged at him with the man's right arm extended, it was then that the sudden chakra spike had Kisame noticed his back. Killer Bee with his right arm extended for a clothesline straight to the back of his neck.

"**Double Lariat!"**

Both brothers yelled, as Kisame had suddenly extended his arms and blocked the blitz attacks coming from the lightning brothers with his hands. Lightning and bijuu cloak began to eat at Kisame's skin as his bones could actually feel his bones crack and shatter from the strength that both brothers delivered.

Kisame chuckled, "T-That's was good!"

Kisame could feel the pain course through his hands as he was forcing it to push the attack away from his person. Both brothers stood agape at the strength that Kisame displayed, but strengthened their pushing force further.

Kisame chuckled, "So, this is it, eh?" Kisame shouted as he laughed when his arms finally gave out. With a last cry, Kisame shouted directly above, **"THAT WAS A GREAT MATCH!"**

Both arms had instantly reached Kisame by the side of the chest and neck. Killer Bee hitting the chest as it ploughed through the skin, tearing it open and along with fat and muscle as it shattered the bones in Kisame's ribs to shards and embedding itself in the lungs and heart.

The Raikage's attack, once it connected to the neck, snapped the spinal cord there like a twig, severing it from the row of bones and disconnecting the nerves inside from the sudden rattling of bones as blood gushed from the opposite side severing the carotid artery and jugular vein spewing the life giving liquid like a blocked hose nozzle.

As the blue skinned man's corpse fell down in a heap on the ground, both brothers gave a sigh of relief.

The Raikage then approached his brother with a tick on his shoulder, "You got a lot of explaining to do, Bee."

Bee could only feel the enthusiasm fade after that victory, as the shadow of his brother approached before him menacingly.

Somehow, Killer Bee thought that he knew he forgot something.

* * *

Konoha:

It had taken two excruciatingly long days (for Sakura at least), to reach Konoha and separate for the Kiri representatives to make a beeline to the south eastern shore that led to Water Country. The travel itself was nothing special to say the least. Although, during the trip there was even an instance where Hinata and the Mizukage actually _glared_ at each other to show their deep… Discontent with each other. Of course, Naruto, who had tried to diffuse the situation and being the said person who was the source of their growing animosity, ended up worsening the situation.

"Oh, Hokage-dono! Please make sure to _tame_ some of your subordinates when you do get back to your village, they tend to go out of line in the chain of command." Said the Mizukage as she grabbed Naruto's right arm with hers and placed it firmly in her bosom.

Sakura was the one who replied, "We are not going out of my bounds Mizukage-sama, but please show that you are a dignified leader of your village. We are just worried for our leader, please refrain displaying such…" Sakura fought off the urge to mention any word that would result in an appropriate fight with the Mizukage, the woman would definitely kick her ass for it, not to mention that it could cause an international incident, "_acts_."

"Hokage-dono, now do you see? No respect for your position!" Said the Mizukage pointing her index finger to the pinkette

Naruto looked flustered when he felt those mounds mashing his arm. He laughed nervously, "Um… Mizukage-dono, they're just concerned about my well being so…"

"Mei-chan."

"What?" Naruto asked immediately, utterly confused

"Call me, Mei-chan, Hokage-dono."

After that little fiasco, it became more and more awkward for Naruto to interact with the people from Kiri, sure they were great to be around, but with his female subordinates showing those hawk-like gazes over him, he was on edge. It was somewhat a relief that they had to separate in order to get to Kiri once they made into a fork in the road and had to separate.

Once they had seen the gates of Konoha, they were greeted with the sight of a well endowed blonde woman crossing her arms and looking as if she'd had a bad drinking spree last night.

"Brat! You've got a lot of explaining to do!"

To which the other blonde hastily replied, "Who you calling a brat, you old bat!? Shouldn't you be taking your afternoon nap!?"

Tsunade snapped, "OLD BAT!? THAT'S IT YOU LITTLE MONGREL! WHEN I'M THROUGH WITH YOU, YOUR MOUTH WON'T BE THE ONLY THING CLOSED SHUT!"

"OH YEAH!? WHY DON'T YOU JUST STIC TO KNITTING THEN!? YOU WOULDN'T WANT TO STRAIN YOUR BACK FROM OVER WORKING!"

"YOU'RE DEAD!" Tsunade shouted gripping her fists as Naruto paled when he remembered what Tsunade could do with single finger flick, he was about to run when the elder woman tackled him down, placed his head in a lock and began ruffling it with her hands.

"You little rascal, I knew you had it in you to show that decrepit old crone who's boss around here!" She said with a smile still ruffling her successor's head. Naruto only grinned at that as he spoke, "Good to see that you're awake, baa-chan."

Tsunade grinned at that herself and said, "Ha! Am I ever glad that you're back, Naruto! Now let's get to your office while we talk, you're going to have to tell me what happened during the summit and how you subdued that old fart!"

Naruto then dismissed his group telling them of a well deserved rest. Once they had made it back, Naruto sat on the seat at the back of the desk and placed his elbows on the table with his hands covering his face.

"I see, so that's why Sasuke is coming after the advisors." Tsunade placed a hand on her chin as she herself began to think.

"I can't just let this slide baa-chan. They managed to usurp control from old man Sandaime more than once, and I'm sure that they could have done so during your time as well. All that it needed was for Danzo to authorize it and let him handle the problem himself. Now with ROOT exterminated, I can honestly say that we have them cornered." Naruto looked serious at that.

"Jiji told me once that the government exists for the people. Although Itachi was blamed for the incident, there were still many people that could have responded the night of the massacre. The patrolling ANBU were replaced with either Danzo's men or were given orders to stay away from the scene of the crime, and the old man was given no choice. I can't trust them, baa-chan. I can't trust the advisors without going behind my back, I need to replace them. Although what they did could be understandable, the Sandaime could have developed terms and compromises with the Uchiha Clan. We didn't give them a chance, baa-chan, they already knew what was going to happen further ahead yet they didn't do anything, there were no negotiations that could have been done, but even the Old man and with his peace talks, most of the proposals that they sent were denied. Even if the Hokage was the one who authorized those proposals, they would utterly be rejected or be destroyed by one of the three. Simply put, they wanted to keep the Uchiha in line."

"So you're doing this…" Tsunade mentioned and Naruto had cut her off.

"I'm doing this in order to prevent another massacre. Who's to say that they would stop with the Uchiha? There are still prominent clans here that are infamous throughout the village, mostly the Hyuuga. They have the power and influence, they also have money, and although the clan has been given reigns and ministrations on its own, they could fear for the day that at least one of these clans would eventually turn out the same as the Uchiha."

"I knew that independent clan act bullshit was asking for trouble." Tsunade mentioned. That law was created during the rule of the Nidaime, it came along with the establishment of the police force, it was meant to give every prominent ninja clan in Konoha privacy in matters involving their clan, in the process, it gave each clan to talk about their problems amongst themselves. And with great independence, settle problems quickly without the needed approval of the Hokage.

And if Tsunade could recall, the establishment of the law, along with the police force happened on the very last few days that the Nidaime had implemented. It meant that the succession of the Advisors took place those few days. It only leads to one thing that Tsunade had her inkling suspicion on,

"Those two never did trust the other ninja clans like Danzo did, the independent clan act was just there to isolate the remaining clans from the politics of the village itself. As long as these clans don't try to meddle with the politics enlisted in the village, they were safe. The Uchiha, who have almost one-third of the forces during that time, tried that and the establishment of the police force was given to them. It kept them busy thinking it could place them into a power that's comparable to the Senju."

Tsunade then continued, "If I know Sarutobi-sensei, he'd have kept notes of his most memorable decision making policies when he became Hokage along with a lot of prominent events, we need gather them and study it here. If those notes are still present we can have enough incriminating evidence to convict Homura and Koharu."

With that, Tsunade had stood up and opened the door about to leave the office, but before she did, she smirked and said to the blonde, "Good luck with the paperwork, brat! I'm glad I'm FINALLY out of that hell hole!"

She then laughed as she closed the door when Naruto groaned and said to the Godaime, "Don't remind me, baa-chan."

When Tsunade left, Naruto sighed as he slumped in his chair when he turned around to view his village. Without as much as a hitch, he had raised his right hand slightly and an ANBU member had jumped down, wearing a bird mask. The masked operative had then kneeled down in front of his leader as Naruto spoke.

"Tori guard Tsunade with your team. ROOT may be gone, but I don't want to take chances. There could still be remnants of Danzo's forces that are in contact with the two advisors, I want you guard Tsunade while she searches for old man Hokage's notes. While you're at it, tell Sai to come to the tower when he can, I need an assignment to be done with his help."

Tori nodded and vanished from sight.

Naruto stood up from his seat and walked out of the office, he needed to train in his Fuinjutsu again, it seemed a lot of work, but if he could start on his free time, the more advantage they would have on this war. He needed to speak with some of the minor leaders about what had taken place, the more allies he has, the more chances that they could win this war, and the first place he had thought of, was the land of his fellow student under Jiraiya.

Amegakure no Sato.

* * *

Unknown Location:

The first thing that Sasuke could feel when he woke up was a terrible ache, he felt sore all over as he sat up carefully, when he opened his eyes, he found himself in a strange place where the ground were completely symmetrical. Squares, rectangles, quadrilaterals littered the area around him below a dark and blue painted sky. A spiral contortion of the space in front of him and Karin revealed Madara who stood in front of him as he said, "Well, Sasuke, even though it was a tough job, good work. We've rattled them up pretty well. And good job in obtaining Susano'o."

Sasuke squint his eyes for a moment; the blurring vision of his eyes was occurring, his eyesight was getting worse. When he had faced off against the five Kages, he never delivered a clean blow to any of them. They were in a different league on their own, but when the five of them are in the same field, it was like climbing a mountain you can't overcome, the fact that the realization had dawn on him that he had faced the Five Kages, made him almost too weak at the knees at his own foolishness, what had drove him like that? What kind of madness did he place himself into?

He had damaged his eyes severely for nothing!

How was he supposed to extract his revenge on the elders now? How will he be able to deal the justice that he had craved for his family? For Itachi? Would it just end this way? He going blind before he could kill them?

NO!

He won't let it happen, he won't allow it! He won't let it end this way! The truth that Itachi had seen, if it meant serving out that hammer of justice, then he would do it, he would force himself to see Itachi's viewpoint. Through Itachi's eyes.

"Madara, give me Itachi's eyes… I want to place his eyes in mine."

Madara merely gave a smile underneath his spiralling orange mask.

Sasuke was getting closer and closer to his ideal pawn. Although it would set back his plans for a good six months with Sasuke getting used to the new vision and the retraining of his Mangekyou techniques, all of it would be worth it in the end, his plans would surely succeed.

Six months was plenty of time, it would do no good to rush things.

To be continued…

* * *

Well, new chapter! Now the transition between the summit and training is about to end with the next chapter, the fucking job hunt is killing me, I've already submitted countless resumes and attended a lot of seminars to fucking update my Resume, I hope I get a call SOON, I don't want to get stuck at home like this.

I haven't really given it this much thought, as I've been utterly tired whenever I try to write this chapter, so I had to force myself to write it, while listening to Golden Time Lover to uplift my mood as I wrote this. Damn it, FMA: Brotherhood is awesome!

I've never really liked the elders and their 'wisdom' sometimes. Regardless of the fact that if Naruto returned or not, Nagato would have still destroyed the village, as most of them are associates of the Nine Tailed Host, and those who oppose him are dealt with swiftly and systematically.

Author Rant: Well, there's nothing much to say this chapter except for the fact that we have seen what a peak Yamanaka and Aburame could do. Which, frankly, are quite awesome really, especially the Aburame's Nano-sized bugs that function like a bad disease or a virus.


	10. Shatter

The Hokage's Will

Chapter Ten: Shatter

* * *

'_As I write this, I ask myself this question that had plagued me for almost a week:_

_When have I become so heartless?_

_As I stood before the room of the one child whom I swore to protect on the death of my successor, I could feel this gnawing sensation in my heart of what I have authorized to my men. I had no other choice. It was that or kill him. I would not shed the blood of an innocent even if it costs mine. Naruto is young, innocent, and untainted. His mother is his sole source of comfort and company. For it to be taken from him… How could I be so foolish?_

_I have let my wayward apprentice live, I should have been the one to do the sealing instead of the Yondaime. It was my responsibility. I've made many mistakes, many decisions that should have taken a different path. Yet, I find myself doing things that dare do the same atrocities all over again. Many times, the words of my teachers and my student Jiraiya always reminded me when I was younger,_

'_The road to hell is paved with good intentions.'_

_I want Naruto to grow without a mental problem, grow up normally unlike the rest of his kind. Not as a weapon of this village, isolated from the family in which I have viewed each and every one of my soldiers and my people. I have been heartless in many a time. But only to the boy that I swore to protect would I be different. His life is more important, the death of his mother is a blow that is hard to recover from in childhood. The boy would become unstable, become even more miserable, for that, I have no choice but to strengthen his mind._

_Kushina's death… I find it highly unlikely that Danzo was not involved in this in some way, yet I just can't convict the man and disband ROOT all the same. He has elite followers around him. If he dies, ROOT would cause too much anarchy; his men would not know what to do. It would most likely be a massacre. I will do what it takes to keep this village safe, though as Danzo and I age further and further, death approaches our doors soon, and until I find a way to stop the man, then I might as well have no choice but to keep him alive a little longer. Disbanding his underground forces did not help; I need to cut the head of the snake to kill it.'_

_-Sarutobi Hiruzen_

Tsunade closed her eyes in contemplation. Sarutobi-sensei had a lot of regrets in his life, a lot of sadness emanating from him, how hard it was to actually strengthen his resolve every time he makes a very difficult decision concerning the village, and he faced it, out of all the leaders of Konoha in the past, Sarutobi had the most trying times to test his mettle and worth. Tsunade could not help but be empathic of her mentor's situation. There were too many decisions that had put Sarutobi's leadership to the test. The Sandaime loved his village; he considered them his children as well, seeing as how he was so fond of them.

Tsunade couldn't help but smile as she leaned back on the seat that the current patriarch of the Sarutobi clan lent to her to read Sarutobi-sensei's journals. She recalled herself when she was young, brash and hot-headed, stuck up and conscious about her figure. Together with her, was the pale and stoic genius, Orochimaru, unconcerned for others but still had the heart back then to be with them during trying times. Jiraiya, the mischievous, perverted little bastard that she beat up everyday for peeking on her in the hot springs, she remembered them so well. Then there was their teacher, Sarutobi-sensei, a genius, the mentor of one of the greatest legends within Konoha, the Legendary Sannin. He was younger back then, hair raised back, patient, insightful, calculating yet kind. He was the one who kept advising her to be positive about herself, that her time to bud will come. He was also the one to make Orochimaru walk forward despite the death of his parents. Sarutobi-sensei was the one to bring out Jiraiya's serious side and became powerful himself, DESPITE the fact that Sarutobi also joined the little hellion on their misadventures at the hot springs. Tsunade still seethed at that behaviour of their former master, he may be respectable, but he's still a closet pervert.

Tsunade laughed a little and let a small trickle of tear escape from her eyes. Those memories were one of the happiest moments she had in her childhood; her team became her associates, and then became close friends. The closeness that the three of them developed back then was one of the moments that made Tsunade smile at a simple recall. She remembered how they visited Orochimaru's parents at their graves and offered flowers, Jiraiya, though resentful towards his teammate back then, said that he would feel like a total ass for not visiting a teammate's deceased loved one. She recalled when Nawaki died. Jiraiya and Orochimaru were there for her. Orochimaru kept it blunt, but he had assured her that Nawaki died swiftly and painlessly. Jiraiya was the one who comforted her about it and told Orochimaru to tell the morbid details later. They were there when Jiraiya was forced on his own when his family disowned him, drinking down to a staggering twenty sake bottles, with Tsunade carrying both of her heavily plastered teammates to her apartment.

Tsunade stood up when she heard the door being opened slightly,

Looking at the corner of her eye, she saw her former master's grandson peeking in, "Um, that dude with the bird mask is waiting for you outside, Godaime."

"Yeah, yeah, tell him to wait for a moment while I seal this in a scroll, your granddad had a lot journals kept in here, and we need these in order to do something."

Konohamaru raised an eyebrow, "I still don't get why you and the boss want to read all of Jiji's books, he writes like watching paint dry! He was boring when he wrote this stuff!"

Tsunade chuckled at this and said, "Well kid, you'd be surprised just how interesting your granddad was when he was with Jiraiya."

"Really?" Konohamaru asked, Tsunade nodded and continued, "Yes, now get back to training or whatever there is you're about to do, the seat of Hokage doesn't wait for anyone."

With that Konohamaru nodded and went outside.

"Now, what to do? I suppose I could read more about Sarutobi sensei's earlier years in office. I remember he met his wife during his reign on the third year. Then again, we need these documents pronto. Oh well, I'll read about those later."

With that, Tsunade grabbed a scroll and began sealing them inside. A gentle booming sound of thunder echoed to the cloudy grey sky…

'_It's going to rain.' _Tsunade thought

* * *

Hokage Tower:

After overseeing the progress of the reconstruction effort once again, Naruto sat down and wiped the sweat from his brow, the downtown district was coming along well, the repairs on the tourist destinations were going just as well and within a few more months, there would be new hotel about to be established at the side of the hot springs district. Ichiraku ramen was already built, thanks to Yamato-taichou, and already made a stop there before going back here. Right now he sighed in contentment and began reading the next set of documents that his clones had been arranging since his absence earlier on.

Naruto remembered that he would need to create a war council that involved all of the present ninja clans in Konoha. He had asked his assistant to have a schedule with the ninja clan heads and Tsunade later on to talk about the war that was going to happen. He also had to talk to Tazuna and the others about this as soon as possible to make their country prepared as well.

A few moments later, one of Konoha's resident sadists, Morino Ibiki, walked in along with Inoichi and Sai.

Ibiki coughed a little and Naruto raised his head and grinned, "Good, you three are here, there's something I need all of you to listen to. Neko, that includes you."

With that last sentence, the ANBU member jumped down on the floor and kneeling in front of the Hokage, her purple hair gently flowing down. Naruto then began, "I trust Danzo is kept quietly within his cell, and isn't talking much, is he?"

Ibiki replied, "No, Hokage-sama, he isn't."

Naruto nodded, "Alright, Inoichi-san, I want you to do something for me in there."

Inoichi raised his eyebrow and as Naruto put his elbows on the table and leaned in closer, his hands covering the lower half of his face, continued, "I want you to purge all of Konoha's secrets from Danzo's head, all of them after probing some that you don't know, including the Uchiha Massacre."

Inoichi raised an eyebrow at this, "What are you talking about, Hokage-sama? Everyone knows about that incident. The massacre wasn't exactly private, unless…"

Naruto then stood up and crossed his arms as he turned his back to the four people in the room.

"What I'm about to tell you must not leave this room understand? Until I deem it safe should all of you state this without a problem. This S-Class secret should never EVER leave this room."

All of them nodded, Inoichi was about to ask until Naruto spoke, "Three days ago, during the Kage Summit, we were attacked by none other than Uchiha Sasuke."

All of them remained in pause, while Inoichi looked down, "Ino will be upset by this."

"During his attack, Uchiha Madara made an unexpected appearance. I know that you may think that it was impossible but he was there, he told me one thing that made me come to speak with all of you here in this tone."

Naruto's hand shook as he clenched his fists. "I don't know if he was lying or not, but don't put your trust in him at one moment. It's bad enough that we have to do the clean up for people like Danzo; I don't want us fighting each other because of THEIR mistake. Never doubt that for one moment, that Sarutobi-jiji tried his best to protect the Uchiha clan until the very end. I only ask you to continue your faith in the system, I'll try to make things right."

"Hokage-sama, are you saying that the government has had a hand with the Uchiha massacre?" Asked Ibiki frowning as he said so, Naruto didn't answer, he was silent for a moment before he continued,

"More specifically, Danzo ordered the genocide of the Uchiha clan in order to stop the coup d'état that the said clan tried to do. He made sure that the deed be done and used Uchiha Itachi as the scapegoat for his plans. I know what all of you are thinking right now, 'why would they need to do that when negotiations could have been done?' Like I said, Sarutobi-jiji did what he could, but in the end, every talk ended with failure. Probe his mind Inoichi-san, find out the truth on the night of the massacre, and then wipe it. Danzo's body is useless; whatever chakra technique he tries won't work. Until he can find a seals specialist, it would remain unlikely. Ibiki-san, after Inoichi-san is done, guard him as minimal as you can. Find out if he still has subordinates left around here, I'm sure they're all in hiding in preparation for his escape if there are remnants here."

The two nodded, Naruto then turned to Sai and the female ANBU member, "Sai, since you were the one that leaked the information about Danzo's plans, I want you to remain silent around Danzo, I trust you with this most crucial part of the plan."

"And that is?" Sai asked

"To act like a ROOT loyalist and free Danzo once his memory is wiped clean of the secrets that Konoha has."

Inoichi had alarm bells ringing in his head at this, "What!? Hokage-sama, that's dangerous! Danzo may not become a ninja anymore but his remaining followers still are, if you let him escape… The first thing he's going to do is go after you!"

Naruto clarified, "I know that, which is why Neko is here. She and her team are going to keep me safe if ever that happens and they will act like hunter ninjas once Danzo escapes the village."

Ibiki asked, "What's the purpose of this if we're just going to kill him in the end?"

Truthfully, he was curious at the gamble the Hokage was telling them. It was risky as hell, a lot of variables are on the line here, and for what exactly? He didn't know, but he intended to find out one way or another. Besides, something in him was excited about the whole thing, like adrenalin suddenly began pouring like a waterfall.

It felt _good._

"We aren't going to kill him, Ibiki-san; he'll become the bait to lure out a bigger fish."

This time, a grin had escaped Ibiki's lips, _now_ that got him interested. It was nothing like the Hokage's friendly and goofy grin. This is Ibiki, unhappy, wicked, spiteful, and sadistic Ibiki. If he gave a grin it meant one thing, he's taking pleasure from other people's misery, this being the case, was Danzo and it made the whole thing all the much _sweeter._

Some of the people inside the office were unnerved at that, the Hokage looked like he shivered but regained his composure immediately.

"Right, we are going to use Danzo as bait to lure out Uchiha Sasuke and his group, if he kills Danzo, then it's better for us also. If we could pull this off, Akatsuki would lose more than half of its remaining ninja."

_That_ had thoroughly surprised them, everything that involved Akatsuki was dangerous, it was no wonder why he had an ANBU member be debriefed in the office.

"Neko, are there at least one kind of every type of specialist there is within your squad?"

Neko nodded and explained, "We have a sensor, diversion specialist, infiltrator, sabotage, an assassin, direct assault, scout and tracker."

"Good, I need all of your team ready once I give the go signal along with the Niju Shoutai, I want your team to perform as Sai's backup if things get dangerous for him. You four are dismissed."

With that, all three stood straight and went out the door, before Sai closed the door behind him; he asked Naruto, "I don't understand… Why are you placing this much faith in me, Naruto?"

Naruto merely answered with a smile, "It's because I trust you, Sai. You were the one to mention about Danzo's plans and in turn, save our lives, I'm grateful. Don't worry; I didn't say anything about your actions to that bastard. You don't need to prove yourself to me anymore; you've done a great job, go take a rest and prepare yourself later on."

Sai could only let out a smile as he said to Naruto, "Thank you, Hokage-sama."

Naruto shook his head with a grin and said, "Get out."

With that, Sai was off.

"Well now, I'm surprised you manage to pull that off, never thought you had it in you, brat."

Naruto turned around and found Tsunade sitting by the side of the desk, scroll in hand.

"I take it you're done in finding Jiji's notes?" Naruto asked, Tsunade answered, "Yeah, though there are some things that you're better off not knowing."

"About jiji erasing my memories of my mother?" Naruto asked. Tsunade could only remain silent and wide eyed as she stared at Naruto who answered truthfully, "Danzo told me."

Oh, then it was no use. Tsunade sighed as she unfurled the scroll and unsealed the contents within. Soon, countless journals had piled on his desk. Naruto looked at the staggering amount and wondered if he should just be done with it and finally settle the whole thing with a lob of a head or three.

Naruto sighed as he put his hands together to form a few Kage Bunshin and let them begin reading as he sat down and began to read himself, along with Tsunade.

As he began to read, Naruto could actually feel the regrets that Hiruzen had in his life through his writings, how sad and forced he was in the decisions he had made and what had taken place, particularly those that involved the second and third Ninja War. Sarutobi wrote his sadness in his journal in every page, about the people he had sent to their deaths. Naruto didn't understand back then what being Hokage was like, he had slowly began learning about what a leader is like from his experiences. But now, he had finally understood what Sarutobi had to do all along. Every decision that had gone against his principles were regretful, utterly devastating to the man, left a hole in the old man's heart that had forced Sarutobi to maintain that stern and aloof expression that he had so often when concerning his ninjas. But when it came to children, Sarutobi was absolutely ecstatic; he had read when the old man used to visit him and his mother when Naruto was an infant, often checked on him when the old man got a chance. Naruto could now understand… Why the old man had to do it, had to decide to erase his mind clean, for a Hokage, save the many in expense of the few was ever present in hid mind, and Sarutobi, who had been the longest reigning Kage, had proof of that. Naruto had known that particular philosophy ever since Sasuke left the village. It may have been different in the words of his former teacher, but it had the same. _'Forget about your friend, he's a traitor now, and all traitors must be killed to keep this village safe.'_ Yet, to him, MANY didn't equate to ALL. Seeing all of this, Naruto found himself in comparing to Sarutobi, it seemed that they were alike to a degree that it made Naruto understand the position that Sarutobi had so well. Naruto felt somewhat relieved that he never once doubted the old monkey.

His teammates however…

It was another story entirely, as Sarutobi narrated in his journal how he felt betrayed and saddened by the power that changed Koharu and Homura, how he was unable to feel their old presence anymore. As he and Tsunade skimmed through the journals one by one, Naruto had felt his anger brew up a storm from within as Sarutobi wrote in his journals about the night that his mother died. Naruto clenched his fists hard on the table as killing intent radiated in the room from the seams.

Tsunade looked at Naruto and said, "Calm down, brat, you can have your turn when we can take them."

Naruto gritted his teeth as he continued to read the passages Sarutobi wrote, every line of regret that Sarutobi made, added fuel to the fire of Naruto's anger, blazing like a raging forest fire. Consuming Naruto's every bit of patience.

"I need to get out." Was the only thing Naruto muttered in his head as he stood from his seat, with Tsunade only staring at the boy in a blank gaze, "Fine, cool your head out there, but I want you back here when the war council is about to start, I'm not the one who has to explain to the clan heads that the five main hidden villages and the Land or Iron is currently at war with Akatsuki right now."

"Don't worry, I'll be back." Said the blonde as he closed the door behind wordlessly, without even turning his head as the door fully blocked the elder woman's view.

Tsunade could only mutter, "Don't do anything stupid, brat."

With Naruto:

An angry looking blonde walked around the village, his head down as his hands in his pockets, clenched into a fist. He was making a beeline straight towards memorial stone, the stone of fallen heroes, names of he fallen that were etched into the rock that had died in service of Konoha or otherwise. As he approached there, Kakashi was already standing in front of the said stone as his hands were in his pockets. Naruto looked up; the sound of thunder had yet again roared throughout the cloud ridden sky. It was getting a bit windy as well, as he now stood in front of the memorial and kneeled down.

"Come to pay your respects, Hokage-sama?" Asked Kakashi, Naruto merely answered as he touched the stone with his right hand, "Sort of… That, and I'm looking for something or rather, someone's name."

"Your mother, I presume?" Asked Kakashi, Naruto didn't look at his teacher but simply nodded.

"I've tried many times to find her name in it, it wasn't there. I even tried to find her grave, there was none." Kakashi continued ominously, the Jounin looked up and saw the rain beginning to pour down on the village, pelting the copy ninja and the Hokage from its sudden downpour, and lightning began to crackle and thunder boomed into the grey, cloud-ridden skies.

"This is disgusting…" Naruto mentioned in a controlled but undeniably angry tone, as his hands caressed the hard crystal that lay in front of him.

"I can't believe how two faced these people are when they placed the names of the Uchiha that the higher ups killed all those years ago, yet, they didn't even put the name of my mother who hasn't done a thing against the village."

It was then that Naruto had felt exactly what he did when his master was killed, when Danzo had declared his involvement with the death of his mother. Anger was welling inside him like an intense blaze again; this wasn't the rage he had felt before. No. This was pure hatred and malice, the very emotion that Sasuke had thrived in, the very emotion that the Nine-tailed beast basked in. For once, Naruto was ABSOLUTELY close into giving in to temptation and kill them with his own hands.

Naruto didn't want redemption now for those who the three people had wronged. No. He wanted one thing that would satiate his desire for revenge.

Gratification.

He wanted to kill them, to make himself feel better, to honour his own mother who was killed. For once, to actually ram his fists to their chests like frail cardboard, Naruto wanted blood.

Wordlessly, the blonde stood up from the memorial stone, his hands balled into fists as rain continued to drizzle down on the village. Naruto's hair now damp and wet as was the rest of his uniform.

With a simple turnaround, the blonde waved a simple and wordless goodbye to Kakashi before flickering away.

To Kakashi, it didn't bode well to whatever had Naruto set in his sights.

Ichiraku Ramen:

Konohamaru had just finished his training from earlier (rather it was cut short due to the rain) with the tri-poled staff changing monkey, Goku and had been slowly etching his way to learn about Elemental Manipulation. Granted, Ebisu-sensei wanted to hold off on that kind of training for a while, but with Konohamaru having such a limited number of jutsu, (and jutsu that are far too dangerous for his own good to boot), closet pervert-sensei was going to initiate their training in it earlier than expected.

He was ecstatic to find that his affinity leaned in closer to lightning, granted, it sucked that the boss had the advantage over him, but Ebisu-sensei had mentioned that it only implies that he was inclined to learn Raiton based jutsu faster, and anyone can learn and control a secondary element.

Konohamaru rummaged through his pocket to find one of the coupons his mother had given him for the ramen he was about to have. He would have preferred something else, but then, Ichiraku happened to be the closest to the usual training ground that Ebisu-sensei and their team frequented. Besides, after a demanding training regimen from the monkey summon, you'll eat anything that is close to you, Ichiraku happened to be in the vicinity so who was he to complain?

A glance to his side when he had finally found his coupon on his side pocket caught his attention as the one that stood outside the Ramen Stand.

"Boss? Come to get some ramen?"

Naruto entered the shop and nodded, "Yeah, decided to have some. The paperwork is driving me crazy and I have a lot of cleanup to do."

Konohamaru raised his eyebrow at this and added, "Bah, it isn't like you have a problem sorting them out, your clones are like, the ultimate all purpose jutsu!"

Naruto chuckled a little at the young Sarutobi's comment; his self-proclaimed rival had a point about the whole technique.

"True, but the headaches that come after it makes you finally decide to have some form of sympathy to the old lady and understand why she's a grouch sometimes."

Konohamaru smirked and said while pointing to himself with his thumb, "Well, if it's such a pain in the ass then you should surrender the hat to me!"

Naruto paused for a moment, and a small smile escaped his lips. Somehow, he felt a reminder of his genin days, that determination, that free spirit, that innocence, that light…

Naruto couldn't help but feel protective now for the younger generation. He wanted them to survive, not caught up in the conflict made by the older. He hated this stupid situation, he hated the fact that they (the younger generation), would be the ones responsible in cleaning up the cesspool of hatred that they left behind.

Frankly, it was a fucked up way of living for them.

"No can do, you little snot, not until you actually have what it takes to be one." Naruto replied, flicking his index finger on Konohamaru's forehead who unfortunately, wasn't wearing his forehead protector.

The genin rubbed his forehead at Naruto's finger flick in annoyance and said, "Just you wait, boss! That title will be mine sooner than you expect!"

"Yeah, Yeah, being Hokage and whatnot, are you people finally about to order? I've got paying customers waiting in line! See!?" The old chef then pointed to some of the people that was about to enter the establishment that gave a respectful bow to the blonde who merely raised his hand to affirm their greeting. Ayame merely rolled her eyes to the side.

"Aw, come on, old man, couldn't you just leave me alone for a minute with the kid here? I'm about to order anyway! Besides, you should consider it an honour in serving the Hokage!" Naruto said with a smile as he thumped his chest.

"Yeah, yeah, where have I heard of that line before? Oh wait; you almost said it for the last five years or so that I've lost count!" Teuchi replied.

Naruto shrugged and sat down placing his order to the chef who merely nodded with a smile of his own.

"Man, you got to go to the summit, boss. It must have been so cool meeting up with the remaining greatest ninjas in this era!" Konohamaru shouted Naruto scratched the back of his head and said, "Not really… If you were there, most of the time it was dealing with eccentricities and annoying politics."

Naruto suddenly remembered the Mizukage, her flirtatious and eagerness would forever be stamped on his head.

With a shake of his head, he was brought out of his musings when his order was up, the steam of the warm noodles snapped him out of his thinking and began to dig in.

"Oh yeah, if you don't mind me asking, boss, why do you need my granddad's journals anyway? The old bat said that you two needed it for something, she didn't say anything after that but now I'm dying to know!" Konohamaru said between slurps, Naruto with half eaten noodles in his mouth, looked up as if thinking about it and then said after engulfing the noodles down his throat, "It's really about replacing some of the elders, they're getting old and with a crisis waiting to happen, well… I don't think they would be able to take it."

Konohamaru seemed to take the explanation well. It was then that an ANBU member with an eagle mask had landed outside the small restaurant and in urgency, he said to the leader,

"Hokage-sama, Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura had managed to run away."

The ANBU bowed and kneeled in front of him.

Naruto gritted his teeth in frustration as he immediately stood outside, the ramen almost toppling to Konohamaru's lap who fortunately caught the bowl with his hands and looked outside.

"Neutralize them as soon as you can! The last thing we need are the secrets of Konoha being left out in the open for anyone with bad intentions to this place!" Naruto roared outside, Konohamaru could practically feel the vibration of Naruto's voice over at the counter, it felt like when jiji was in a bad mood. He would be quiet and shifty, smoking more than usual and was incredibly irate.

Outside, Naruto had seen the ANBU gave a nod and disappeared in a flicker. The blonde inwardly cursed. He didn't know what came over him like that, but it felt like the most sensible thing to do in such a sudden situation. Granted he didn't feel the need to care about the two elders, but the way he said it, the way his tone of voice changed suddenly and nonchalantly commanded the deaths of the two elder people. Naruto wanted to do it himself earlier on when he was at the memorial stone, but stopped himself from causing such an unreasonable amount of tension between him and the people, he had just gained their acknowledgement. The last thing he needed was their fear manifesting itself again in him. He didn't want that to happen again, no. He was better than that, he wouldn't lower himself to the ideas of revenge for personal gain, he was Hokage now, and he would be sticking to his perverted master's ideals till the end. It was his homage at least, to the master that had showed and taught him many things on not just jutsu and battle alone.

But when he said those words immediately…

… It felt _great_.

He couldn't help but feel like a monster.

Once he went back inside, Naruto had placed his money down on the table and then turned back, leaving behind a half-finished ramen bowl. His idea of cheering himself up with his favourite food was gone immediately from his mind. He didn't have the appetite for it, not anymore anyway.

Teuchi looked out in concern for his best customer, as did Konohamaru who ran outside as Naruto made a beeline towards the Hokage Tower. Konohamaru shouted to the blonde, "Boss!"

Naruto turned around and saw his self proclaimed rival look at him completely serious, then grinned, "Go get 'em!"

Naruto smiled and said to the kid, "Don't worry, I've got no intention of letting you do the tough jobs yet."

Konohamaru looked at Naruto with a confused look as Naruto left with a simple body flicker.

Hokage Tower, later in the afternoon:

"You sure took your sweet time." Tsunade commented not taking her eyes off from Sarutobi's last journal, Naruto sat down on his desk cradling his head with his left hand.

"Sorry, had a lot of run ins with some of the people, that and I just found out that the two elders had escaped and ran." Naruto replied, Tsunade looked up and scowled,

"Now what? That's just another pile of problems you have to deal with. Right now, the clan heads are making their way towards here to talk about what is so important that you had to call for an emergency meeting with them."

"It's taken care off, baa-chan; now let's get this over with."

With that, the two grabbed some documents on Naruto's desk and walked outside closing the office.

Once they had arrived at the conference room, they were greeted by the sight of the clan heads, sitting on their respective chairs looking at the Hokage in complacent and bored gazes.

"Well, well, it's been a while since there was a meeting of the clan heads right now." Tsume mentioned a hand cradling her cheek as she let her left elbow rested on the table a smirk escaping from her lips.

Shikaku was slumping on his chair with a bored expression, "I don't mind though, the misses was about to harp on me again and this saved me from another night of nagging."

Chouza gave a hearty laugh, obviously recovered from his injuries from the fight against Pein and then looked at Inoichi with a raised eyebrow, "What's eating you, Inoichi?"

The Yamanaka clan head fidgeted a little and said, "Um… Nothing just tired from a day in the Intel department."

"But this does post a concern on what the Hokage is about to address in this meeting right now, we never had this meeting since the start of the Third Great Ninja War." Shibi had mentioned, adjusting his glasses and crossed his arms as he sat behind the table.

"Whatever the case, if such an event would require all the clan heads to discuss this matter with the Hokage, I'm sure it would be quite a situation he has heard." Commented Hyuuga Hiashi, sitting in a simple but dignified manner on his seat, to his left, there sat Tsunade, and on her left sat the Hokage who had worn his hat earlier and placed it in front, as he did back then at the summit.

"I don't like beating this around the bush too long so I'll be blunt and get straight to the point." The blonde teen was silent for a second and then continued, "Akatsuki has waged war against the five main Shinobi nations and Iron Country. The leader of Akatsuki declared it during our meeting who now has seven of the nine bijuu."

"I don't know how to put this, but I think that bastard has something up his sleeve. An organization, like that? I wouldn't put it past them to have some form of backing from a country or two. If they managed to stay hidden for quite some time and it took Jiraiya-sama's spy network to discover them, it just means that they're that good at deception. Even if it's seven of the nine Bijuu, we can't guarantee that they don't have a plan up their sleeve." Shikaku mentioned and leaned forward on the table, facing the Hokage. Tsume leaned back and crossed her arms while whistling.

"Right, if we suspect them to have a country backing them, then we should prepare for a full scale war, with more emphasis on our seal masters, we need more than just a platoon of them if we want to win this war" Tsunade mentioned, all of the clan heads nodded in approval.

"The problem now would be what country Akatsuki has influence on?" Tsume asked, Naruto suggested, "Crossing Ame out of the equation right now, we can't just do a take over of minor countries, all we could do is monitor, it's too dangerous to assume a country is under Akatsuki's control and we attack them as a prevention method. We're here to stop Akatsuki's influence in the world; we're not here to just win."

Shibi nodded, "I agree, it would be far too dangerous to enlarge Akatsuki's influence any further in the minor countries, a pre-emptive strike is unwise."

"Retaliation attacks are too risky however, the current status of the village can attest to that." Hiashi mentioned, and everyone inside the room nodded.

"This is far too difficult to decide upon, I say we build up our forces here in the village, create new contingency plans, evacuation routes, and reposition our supply warehouses along with our supply routes not be intercepted this early on." Chouza rubbed the back his head with his right hand.

"I will not risk it with the village as it is right now." Hiashi stated calmly, Shibi commented, "And we cannot draw more flack to us this way, Hiashi-dono. We strike a minor country without as much as a word for it then we can consider almost all of our allegiances with them null and void."

"But we have an alliance with the Five Main Countries like this, along with Iron Country as well!" Tsume mentioned.

"May I remind you that even a smaller power, once collected with others, are stronger as one?" Shibi countered, Hiashi frowned, "Hmph… Do not mix your clan Philosophy in this. Fearing them is all but a trivial matter that is not in need of concern."

"I have to agree with Shibi on this one." Inoichi finally spoke, Shikaku nodded as the Nara clan head continued, "If you haven't noticed it, the minor countries outnumber us by one to three in population, along with the fact that that they took up spaces between the five main countries. We can't relay messages if they are intercepted, we need some of them as allies, a display of power would only make them both fearful and hostile towards the alliance."

"And what makes you think they could band together?" Asked Tsume, surprisingly, it was Tsunade who answered, "The five main villages had formed an alliance. I don't need to say more."

Everyone was silent at that for a few seconds until Chouza spoke, "I guess even bitter rivals can become allies if it's such a bad situation."

Naruto then said, as he nodded and stood up, "It's decided then, we're going to be building our forces here, it keeps Intel from leaking and we'll be prepared for a chance counter-attack if Konoha is the first target. We don't know what the enemy will be doing, so we'll just have to mobilize our chuunin to gather information around. Tsunade-baa-chan, you'll be in charge on the village while I'm gone. I'm going to be doing some researching in Myobokuzan after this." Naruto then handed a scroll to Tsunade, "Give that scroll to Sakura, I'm giving her first solo mission to Ame, once there, here's my instruction for her as I can't be here for a while and these letters need to be to their proper countries as soon as possible. I'm sorry to put this on you, but this is just something I have to do." Naruto mentioned as he then clasped his hands together in a hand seal after biting his thumb and drew blood,

Boar.

Dog.

Bird.

Monkey.

Sheep.

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" Naruto shouted as he slammed his right hand on the table. Smoke had exploded on the table in front of him, drawing forth two toads.

"Fukasaku-sensei, I'm ready…" Naruto mentioned, and Fukasaku nodded

Tsunade suddenly stood up, "Hey! Wait a minute, how long am I going to put up with this!?"

Naruto looked at Tsunade for a moment and then said with a grin, "Until I come back!"

"That's for an indefinite time period, brat! I'm not putting up with the job for more than a month, it's one month too many!"

"Ah, you worry yourself too much, baa-chan, you'll be fine! Besides, I have another toad summoner here in case there's an emergency!" Naruto gave an offhanded reply.

"That's not it, Naruto, this about the fucking workload!" Tsunade raised her hand in exasperation and then pointed to the documents that were on the table.

"Please, you just don't want to sign those papers." Naruto subtly rolled his eyes, of course, that didn't go unnoticed from Tsunade.

"Of course I don't! I don't want to mess with that thing again! And you're about as lazy as I am about paperwork! You just have a jutsu that can deal with it!"

"Whatever you say, baa-chan!" Naruto gave a cheeky smile as he placed his hands on the back of his head and went out, Tsunade merely grumbled. If there was one thing that Naruto remained in his rule, it was that he was still as stubborn as a mule.

Once he got out, Fukasaku had jumped and perched on his shoulder. The wise old toad spoke to the blonde, "There's a special dome built in Myobokuzan for you to use there. Naruto-chan, are you really serious about this? This is different from training in your Sage Mode. The chances of you dying and setting the beast free are high…"

"We've already discussed this Fukasaku-sensei, I'll bet everything I have, and I'll have to get stronger… No matter what, stronger than Sasuke, stronger than Madara… And if I have to, I'll have to be stronger than the Rikudo Sennin."

Naruto then looked intensely up on the afternoon sky as he shouldered his backpack and nodded to Fukasaku.

Within a second, a puff of smoke emerged from the ground that Naruto and Fukasaku stood on. As the smoke dissipated, both master and apprentice were gone.

* * *

Myobokuzan:

As soon as he felt the pull from the reverse summoning suddenly stop, he found himself in a dome made of stone, he looked up, at the very top of the dome was a simple opening above, showing a portion of the sky above. And there stood in front of him, were Fukasaku and Shima, along with them was the book of Fuinjutsu that he had read earlier. He had remembered that he still had to read it about halfway, he had to read and study more, amalgamate more seals and create sealing techniques that only involved his hands. Written seals were merely the tip of the proverbial iceberg.

"Right, Fuinjutsu it is then for now!" Said the blonde as she rolled up his black long sleeve and began to sit down on the floor.

It was going to be another long and complicated training regime for him. But at least he knew that he was sure to find his answer in this book.

To be continued…

* * *

FINALLY, I've updated this, and so begin the training arc that could last… One, two chapters?

Now, I think you may want to ask, why did I choose Sakura to be the one to act as an emissary to Ame? Well, I decided for the younger generation to have a more active role in this situation, granted, Sakura just came off the fly for me, though I did find it interesting of how will Konan and Sakura interact as they are parallel characters for the protagonists/antagonists of the series. And as you have guessed, I don't hate Sakura, sure, the first impression she gave stuck to me like glue during part one, I just don't like what happened to her and what she decided in her actions. Sasuke is the same in regards to his decisions, and though some of you may say that Sasuke is a douchebag and yours truly is now setting him up as the primary villain, think again, he's will NOT be the primary villain, it's just that Sasuke is labile enough to change minds in matters that concern his goals (And yes, I agree EMS is DEM, I just don't like messing with this particular canon, if it Kishimoto says so, then to hell with it, just ride it), and though he may have sound like Tousen last chapter, I believe his own revenge is his perception of slamming the hammer down to those who have wronged him. He's not out there to make things better for everyone, just for himself, a perfectly human behaviour on his part. Also, another notice: I won't be updating for a good two or three weeks for personal reasons. Happy Holidays and a prosperous New Year to all of you.

THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING THIS FIC, IT HAS NOW REACHED THE ONE THOUSANDTH MARK! THANK YOU, VERY MUCH!

Anyway, Read and Review people!


	11. The First Movement

The Hokage's Will

Chapter Eleven: The First Movement

It had been quite a sight to see when she had finally reached the village that had raised the one responsible for Konoha's status as it is right now. Ame had a glorious site from afar, it look more metropolitan than Konoha was, the pipes that scaled the building up made it look like the city came from one of those steam punk novels.

Sakura had managed to get in contact with Konan a few seconds ago, now that she was finally settled down after that long trip, she awaited Konan's presence.

"I'm sorry I kept you waiting, Haruno-san." Mentioned Konan as she walked inside, gone was her Akatsuki cloak, and instead, her cloak was now plain dark in colour.

"I-It's no problem, Konan-san." Sakura raised her hands in gesture as the older woman sat down.

"Hokage-sama wanted to talk to you about what happened in the Summit concerning your… former associates." Sakura mentioned as she handed over the scroll to Konan who began reading the contents.

Silence befell the room, and Konan gently rolled the scroll her head bowing.

"So it's finally happened… I didn't think he would speed up his plan this much." Konan closed her eyes solemnly, feeling the guilt of the situation finally occurring in the masked man's plans.

"Uchiha Madara, the more I think of that man, the more I realize how twisted he is based on his ideals." Konan trailed off and looked outside; a flock of birds had flown up in the sky. Sakura mirrored the paper woman's gesture and looked to her left.

"Tell me Sakura-san, how is Naruto-san fairing these days?" Asked Konan, Sakura replied, "He's doing fine, he left after giving this letter to me to relay to you. Tsunade-shishou mentioned that he was going to train and research on seals. He wants to end this war as soon as he can and he's doing what he feels what he needs to do."

Konan then stifled a small smile as she began paper folding on the table that sat between them, Konan then spoke, "You know, Naruto-san is like Yahiko in many ways…"

"Yahiko?"

Konan then looked at Sakura who was looking at her in a confused manner, "Ah my mistake. Yahiko is… was a friend of ours…"

"Was?"

"He was killed right before Nagato and I joined Akatsuki, he was a very dear friend of ours." Konan mentioned as she continued to paper fold.

"I-I'm sorry…"

"Don't apologize, Haruno-san, it was not you that dealt the blow. Yahiko was the bravest out of the three of us; he was assertive, brash and took command of things when it got tough. If it wasn't for him, I don't know what would have happened to us when we were children." Konan then finished her paper folding and revealed her finished product.

A paper crane…

"When he died, Nagato and I were devastated, but out of the two of us, Nagato was the one who never got over his death. Nagato looked up to Yahiko, even I did, but I realized sooner that I couldn't wallow in that sadness, when Nagato vowed to continue Yahiko's dream, I followed him. It wasn't the same, but we knew that it was what Yahiko wanted for us." Konan then said to Sakura who by now was looking at the floor.

"In Nagato's perspective, he just wanted to protect those very few people that he considered friend. How about you, Sakura-san? I can tell that you have the same type of pain as I do, all the time you were looking on the floor and avoided looking at me, as if you know what it likes to lose a friend." Konan mentioned, Sakura let out a hollow laugh and said, still looking on the floor, "It's funny how I found a kindred spirit in you, Konan-san. In a way, yes, but instead of being killed, he ran away from home."

"Uchiha Sasuke, I presume?" Konan asked, Sakura didn't answer, she chose the silence to answer for her.

"I-I don't want to come to a point that we would kill each other just to stop this madness!" Sakura then held her head with her hands and bowed. Sasuke had been a part of their lives, they had stuck with each other through tough times, and those memories still lingered in her mind like photographs.

"Do you wish to save him, Haruno-san?" Konan asked, Sakura didn't answer yet again for a moment; she looked at Konan silently, feeling herself numb from Konan's question.

"I..."

* * *

Flashback:

'_I couldn't reach to him, Sakura… I'm sorry…'__ a twelve year old Naruto mentioned in front of her, covered in bandages and wearing the hospital gown._

'_If Sasuke keeps doing the__se kinds of things on his own, then I can consider him a threat now, a threat that will take away something important from me.' Shikamaru had said to her as he walked back to his home, in his right hand, was the lighter of his former mentor reminding him of the fate that was placed on the son of the third Hokage.

* * *

_

"I…"

* * *

'_I can't pardon him Sakura… I'm sorry.' _

'_He's an even bigger idiot than Naruto! What the hell will he accomplish after this!? Doesn't he know what Akatsuki wants!?' Kiba remarked_

'_What do you know!? Do you know how difficult it was dealing firsthand when you found out your former best friend joined THAT bastard's organization!?'

* * *

_

"I…"

* * *

'_I don't want to stay on a village that keeps holding me back. If you want to get in my way then be prepared to pay for it.'

* * *

_

Sakura steeled her resolve; did she really want to save Sasuke? Sasuke, the person that had abandoned them, the same person that almost stabbed her in the chest if it wasn't for their captain, did she really want to save him?

"Who will you save him from?" Konan asked. Sakura looked up at the blue haired woman; Konan looked at her seriously, waiting for a reply.

* * *

'_Sakura… Thank you…'

* * *

_

Sakura managed to let the words come out of her mouth and finally gave her answer,

"I want to save him… I want to save him and smack some sense into him. I want to save him from Madara, save him from himself, make him realize that leaving us behind was a horrible choice in the end…"

Konan smiled, as she turned around and grabbed her scroll. Within a few seconds, the crane from before enlarged to the size of a pigeon. Konan drew a simple storage seal at its side and sealed the scroll inside.

"Then rise up, Haruno-san. Follow me and I shall aid you in your trial. Don't fear. I already gave my answer to the Hokage. I will only grant you what I can, but rest assured, I will teach you everything that I know. It may or may not be enough for you to do anything good, but if it means you do everything in your power for the sake of your loved ones, then I will support you."

Sakura looked at Konan in a questioning gaze, as she suddenly stood up from her seat.

"W-Why would you…?" She asked, Konan bowed her head, a knowing yet simple smile escaped her lips, "Because you are like me, Sakura, yet unlike me, you still have those two in your life. They are still living. If there is one thing that I have learned from Naruto-san, based on mere observation, is that as long as there is life, there will always be hope. So don't lose your determination yet, Haruno-san."

Sakura smiled at that, finally relieved of the fact that she can have a chance to save Sasuke, to relieve Naruto off with the burden of his promise to her. If Naruto couldn't be the one to drive some sense into Sasuke, she will be the one to do so. Even if it meant she was the one going to fight Sasuke.

With a cleared head, Sakura followed Konan who had walked outside.

Konan looked serene, at peace as she walked the streets of Ame; at her side was the pink haired Konoha Shinobi, who had looked around the village as the citizens of Rain stared at her in curiosity.

The Angel of God looked at Sakura and said, "It has been a while since they had seen foreign shinobi, much less from Konoha, Ninja from Konoha tend to remind them of… Unpleasant times."

Sakura could only nod, and smile at a small child that was staring at her, the child smiled back before running off.

As they continued to walk, many of the populace greeted Konan and bowed acknowledging her as the Angel of God. Sakura could literally feel the admiration and respect to the woman coming in waves, it felt different from Tsunade's who commanded in full force and boosted morale with fiery words. Konan's came off like pristine water or a gentle breeze, it was silent, gentle, and gave off feeling of comfort and tranquillity.

"After what happened to Nagato… Do they still consider him a god?" Sakura asked. Konan never looked at Sakura as she answered that question.

"The current people of Ame believed that Nagato is a god, all because he did the unthinkable, he defeated Hanzo the Salamander. Nagato saved his followers from the despair that Hanzo brought, it is only natural that they look up to him, who has defeated someone they view as invincible be considered a higher being. A god among men, that is what many people of Ame viewed Nagato. He was- is their ideal, and it will take a long time for them to forget that sentiment. It was best to let them continue on in this view, let them think what they wish, as long as they don't tarnish Nagato's name." Konan said.

"I see, so to not distraught them of such a strong belief in Pein, you wanted them to continue that belief for a while…" Sakura commented and Konan nodded.

"Yes, only discord awaits those whose beliefs are crushed. Let them think like it for a while. I would not dissuade them."

Sakura could feel the waves of Konan's convictions going through to her. Sakura could feel just how decisive the woman in front of her was with regards to the people around her, to the people that mattered. Even if it had hurt Konan due to Nagato's death and ultimately leaving Konan all by herself, Konan resolved that she would remain strong not for herself, but for the people that Nagato and Yahiko left behind.

'_But me… I feel like an absolute coward.'_ Sakura thought to herself, she realized just how her indecisiveness had managed to hurt Naruto, how it took SAI, of all people to figure out just how much the three of them (Sasuke, Sakura and Naruto), manage to hurt each other in an indirect manner. Sakura could feel the loathing of herself surfacing its ugly head inside her, how it was taunting her about what she was doing, to herself, to Naruto, to everyone.

'_Quit lying to yourself, you know as much as I do that there would never be hope of convincing Sasuke to come back, it's become more trouble than its worth!' _Her inner voice told her. Sakura bowed her head and frowned.

'_Are you still after his heart? Are you still in love with him? Did you forget what he did to you? To Naruto? To our team?' _It continued, mercilessly plaguing her with memories of their second encounter as Sasuke was about to deliver a sword straight to her chest.

'_After all the sacrifices we made, after all the hard work we had gone through, it seemed that it was never enough, never MORE than enough. It's time to change that prioritized goal.' _Sakura looked at her gloved hands for a moment and clenched it together, she was right, saving Sasuke mattered. But now, she wanted to be strong, not for Sasuke, not for Naruto.

'_But for myself.' _Sakura thought as she steeled her decision, she would not go after Sasuke anymore, rather, she would be fighting for the sake of all that is important to her, not just Sasuke anymore.

Stopping at the edge of the city, Konan turned around and looked at Sakura who was looking at her seriously. Konan gave a tiny smile, and grabbed a scroll from her cloak.

"This is one of the technique scrolls that was gathered during the years that Akatsuki was still composed of nine members and gathered techniques first before the capture of Jinchuuriki, this was Kakuzu's technique that allowed his body to become as solid as steel." Konan then slipped a small paper from her hand and handed it to Sakura.

Sakura accepted the small paper and nodded, it was a test to determine her elemental affinity. She had seen Kakashi perform the same test to Naruto, and wordlessly, she applied her chakra to the paper as Naruto once did.

She felt herself turn pale as she saw that the paper crumbled to dust…

Konan however, smiled, it was a perfect match for what she had in mind.

* * *

Myobokuzan, three months later:

It had been gruelling; the training he did on himself had been far more than tiring, it left him absolutely drained every night. But with every day's worth of rest, he had gained months or even years of experience in a day of his training, the training with his clones were effective, he could now do stroke-less Fuinjutsu and could theoretically, seal away a massive object with just flicks of handseals.

But now he faces his next hurdle.

Standing in the middle of the dome where the only present beam of light descended upon him, he clasped his hands together in a prayer like stance, removing his haori and flack jacket, his eyes closed, as the scroll toad stood towering before him, arms crossed.

"Maintain your moulding and concentrate, without a third medium, you will be the one to pick up the slack, you'll act as the controller and the output. Once I turn the seal open, you're on your own. Just make sure that once you direct the chakra, your natural energies would be gathered by then, you'll only have one moment. Do you remember the seals that Jiraiya weaved?"

Naruto nodded. Sweat falling from his brow, grimacing on the difficult task. As he had reached the peak of his moulding, he heard the toad scroll mention that he was about to begin. Naruto affirmed with a simple nod.

Chakra suddenly began running its course through him, as soon as he felt that moment, Naruto began weaving seal after seal with his hands, controlling the sudden flow of chakra that seemed unbending to his doing. It felt like colliding with the ocean waves, smashing against himself, as wave after wave pulverized the shore. Each gesture of the handseals brought him closer and closer to his limit of control; he could feel the youki starting to overflow into his system like a damn that had suddenly burst open its wall.

Doing the last seal, he immediately stopped and began to gather natural energy, as the fox's chakra started to stream its way in his coils. In his mind, he couldn't think of anything other than to suppress the sudden flow of demon chakra. He flinched, as it suddenly grew hotter.

"**So… You think you can make me bow down and lend you my aid, human?"** The voice asked, deep and malicious, scrutinizing and condescending. Naruto turned around, and came upon a brass gate, as large as any building that stood beyond ten stories. There in the middle, was a small paper with the word seal written, as if it was the lock that kept the cage closed. Inside, two pairs of blood red eyes, as sinister and as menacing as its amused grin that showed its sharpened teeth. Red miasma began dancing below its murky and shallow waters, rising up as it turned to bubbles and began crawling out of the cage towards Naruto. An amused chuckle escaped from the cage, as it stared down on its host.

"**You, who struggle to find what is and what isn'****t, you whose own morals are now blurred by your position, where your choices lead you to doubt yourself more that lead to a path of weakness, you, who cannot grasp the fact that one of your own betrayed you."**

Naruto snarled at that comment, the Kyuubi continued speaking to the blonde.

"**Pathetic, truly such a worthless flesh bag tha****t stands before me, I should kill you now. At least it would be more of an act of mercy rather than cruelty."**

Naruto continued his angry stare at the monstrous fox, as the miasma and red bubbles began to crawl its way towards him, with the waters from beneath his feet beginning to rise.

"**Foolish mortal, for you to attempt to subdue me, I give you credit. None have been so courageous or foolhardy**** enough such as you to attempt this, especially one who has not gained the ability to control me, but your folly ends now. Know that you shall never see the light of day again, and I shall be free of this damnable prison!"**

Naruto smirked as he slowly walked towards the cage the water on his knees rippled silently. The red bubbles and miasma gave way, the effect of the Sage chakra repelling the red chakra finally slipping through the gaps of the bars, "Keep telling that to yourself, you stupid fox. I'm here to finally show you who the boss around here is. And all in ill manner, I'll show you that even an insignificant human like me can surpass even the expectations above the norm. Nature isn't static."

The Kyuubi sneered **"Interesting… You make it sound like your sure of yourself. The only question is, can you, actually? Can you control me? Can you use my power? Can you withstand me?"**

Raising its left fore claw, the monster swung its claw down to Naruto.

"**That is only wishful thinking! I am the Kyuubi no Kitsune, I am chaos incarnate, with a single wisp of my tail; I cause death and destruction in my wake! ****No one will control me anymore, NO ONE! Not you and certainly not those damnable Uchiha anymore!"**

The gigantic claw splashed down the rising waters, pushing the liquid up from the claw as the initial shockwave violently rippled around it. The Kyuubi remained silent as it viewed Naruto under it.

Naruto had stopped the claw with both his hands raised, he was squatting as he did so, struggling from the sheer power that the Kyuubi had dealt.

"**Now, you interest me more, brat. ****That simple attack should have rendered you unconscious and allowed me to take over your body."**

The Kyuubi looked around, and saw that the water levels were rising once again. It gave an amused chuckle as he said to the blonde that was struggling from his claw.

"**You do understand, don't you, gaki? As time passes, the key to your seal is slowly turning it open. The gradual rising of the water is proof of that. Every time the water rises, you succumb to me, the paper seal that act****s as a lock is slowly peeling away. By the time the water reaches the level on your chest, I would have consumed you completely!"**

Naruto replied between heaves, "Yeah? So what?"

Naruto suddenly began pushing the giant claw, "Am I supposed to be afraid? Am I supposed to fall down and accept my fate?"

Slowly, inch by inch, second by second, Naruto was pushing the claw away, "I've thrown my fear away when I promised myself to not back down on any fight. I've fought my way, tooth and nail, and more than once, I showed everyone that I'm not just an idiot from a no name clan. Impossible isn't a word for me, it doesn't even exist in my vocabulary."

Naruto said that with a smile as he tossed the claw away and crouched low, "Now, I've become the Hokage, the strongest in my village, the man at the top. I've done it, I made it here, and I'll be damned if you ever take that dream away from me! I'll only stop when I want to. Not even you can keep me!"

Naruto suddenly jumped, disappearing in a blur and appearing just beside the Kyuubi's long mouth. Heaving his fist back, Naruto shoved his fist straight to the fox's face. The fox reacted as the punch had hit him, its head slightly heaving to the side from the blow.

"**I see you CAN throw a decent punch. But it still won't be enough!"**

In its berserker like trance, the nine tailed beast howled inside its cage, slashing down below with its fore paws, on Naruto, who was still in midair. Seeing nothing to be replaced with, he had met the brunt of the attack head on and felt the weight of each of its claws on his shoulders, throwing him down on the waters below splashing in it in a tremendous show of force, the Kyuubi laughed from its standing position, as it said,

"**In the end, I still am far more superior than you, whelp. Nature deems it so, and it shall always be obeyed! No ordinary human could ever control me!"**

At that instant, three geysers had immediately burst from the waters below, signalling Naruto's vitality, three clones descended upon the nine tailed fox, all with hands forming a giant Rasengan. The Kyuubi evaded, hopping left to right until all clones missed him, the nine tailed fox sneered some more, as it swiped the clones with its paws and tail effectively dispelling them.

That is, until the real one jumped from the water that was below its exposed underbelly, with a full, gigantic Rasengan formed and struck the said abdomen of the Kyuubi. The Kyuubi yowled in its pain, sending it flying from the force of the attack, hitting the metallic and stone like roofs of the mindscape.

The monster fell down on the significantly higher level of water below, creating a gigantic splash all around, as the water descended, it looked like it was raining inside.

The Kyuubi immediately recovered, its wounds suddenly healing at an exponential rate. The Kyuubi grinned; no one has ever managed to deal something like that to him for over a hundred years.

"**This… This has been the gift I have given you so long ago. Yet you are still this weak. I gave it to you because I knew you would be prone to injury, your reckless attitude was your downfall. And I knew that I would be forced to share this ability to you if only I were to survive before finally getting my freedom!"**

The Kyuubi then drove its claws once again on the blonde, this time, sideways with its left fore paw. Seeing this immediately, Naruto jumped, only to be met with a large headbutt courtesy of the monster as it literally crashed on to Naruto who was unprepared to block. The blow sent him careening towards a larger part of the iron gates. Naruto could feel the pain coursing through his body as he had hit the brass gate in a bone shattering attack. Granted, he wouldn't receive that much injuries as it was his mind, but the mere fact that he could still feel the pain was enough to stun him as he slid on the wall straight down on the waters below.

"**Your ideas are so delusional as the belief of that dead master of yours!"**

Naruto, who had regained his senses, snarled as he got up from the water, wet and angry, he looked at the monster fox in absolute hate.

"Don't insult the perverted hermit's ideals like that!"

"**Fool! It is natural for man to kill their fellow men! Men are, by nature, inherently evil! Greed fills their souls like a despot of sickness and virulence! It spreads to each human's heart, their pride, their lust, their gluttony, hate and envy on their own kind like a disease that can never be cured! Nothing is worth saving these abominations from themselves; they were never in danger to begin with!"**

"Shut up! You may be an ancient being, but you don't even know how humans think! You just judge us by the way you see in your observations! If you're a higher being, then your views on us lowly creatures can kiss my ass! You don't know how to be human; you will never learn how to be one!"

Naruto shouted, he dashed forward, faster than before, and jumped up. The Kyuubi opened its giant maw as it swooped low and attempted to bite Naruto only to receive water as Naruto reflexively landed on top, forming another set of three clones. The Kyuubi rolled to the side, intent of flattening its host. Naruto jumped, along with his clones, with each clone transforming into weapons of any variable.

As wisps of chakra began gathering inside the gates of the Kyuubi, the boundary of human and bijuu, everything around the entire area began to crumble.

* * *

Outside of Naruto's mind:

The uncontrollable surge of chakra outside made both Fukasaku and Shima shudder at the evil chakra pouring out like a waterfall. As they stared at Naruto who stood in the middle of the sealing chamber who was standing on all fours, his red chakra cloak taking form and disappearing at the same time, struggling fiercely the longer it took. His skin was starting to break down and reform, as he bled down trickles of blood all throughout his body, dripping to the ground and staining it with his life fluid.

Naruto growled and roared as he grasped and held his throat, rolling down on the ground from the pain.

"Endure it, Naruto-chan! Don't let that monster consume you!" Shima shouted from her position, Fukasaku added, "He can't hear ya ma! You're just wasting your breath!"

"Pa, why are you ALWAYS antagonizing on everything that I do?" Shima griped. To his end, Fukasaku shook his head as he held it with his left hand.

"It's because most of what you do is always pointless!" Her spouse pointed out.

"Oh, like how my kitchen duties at home are pointless!?" Shima countered, obviously offended.

"Only when it's water striders night! I told you to get rid of the hind legs! You know how much they irritate my gums!?"

"Then you should remind me earlier!"

"I keep reminding you two hours before cooking the things! You just forget about it! And you call the great sage a forgetful old coot!"

"What!? I am NOT old, you old coot!"

"Who are you calling an old coot you old coot!?"

The two began to squabble like the married couple they are; Gamakichi kept watch the furthest from the sealing chamber and sighed when he saw the elders argue like children.

"Um… Elders, how much time has Naruto allowed us before finally interfering with the ritual?" Gamakichi asked, the two looked at each other then to the son of the frog boss and Fukasaku replied, "Naruto has given us as much as fifteen minutes, those minutes are the most crucial part since it is the maximum amount of time Naruto has on his sage mode on his own."

Shima then continued, "Sage mode may bring a human closer to the level of a bijuu, but it does not guarantee that you can stand toe to toe with one. The mere thought of a human taking on a tailed beast is utterly ridiculous. Yet, the thought of controlling one is even more."

Fukasaku nodded in a grim expression, "Much as we hate to do it, before the fox cloak manifests itself into the fifth tail state, we are going to have to kill Naruto. He said that if he fails, then this is the only option left for us. Not only would the Kyuubi be prevented to escape, it would destroy Madara's plan."

Gamakichi swallowed hard as he looked on to the form of a feral looking Naruto, crouched in all fours and growling as he gripped the dirt below with his hands, digging deep into the ground.

The toad scroll however, was still transferring more and more chakra.

"No, not done yet… There's still more of the yin chakra left! Accumulate it and control it, Naruto. Don't waver!"

The only answer from the blonde came out in a bellowing growl, as a shroud of chakra shield began to surround him in a dome, Naruto looked around, and began banging the shield with his hands turned claws, swiping and pounding on the ethereal wall for release.

* * *

Naruto's mind:

"**See what lies before you, as the greatest of the tailed beasts! I am the Kyuubi no Kitsune, cower and realize the insignificance of your own existence compared to mine!" **The Kyuubi bellowed as it stared down at the slumping form of the blonde by the gate. Its spiteful crimson eyes gauged the blonde down on the ground and fashioned its own toothy, foxy grin. It gave an amused chuckle before Naruto, who now stood in steady support by the gate, the water level inside was reaching to his abdomen, as he started breathing heavily.

"Didn't you hear me earlier?" Naruto managed to ask between gasps for air. Naruto strengthened his legs as he remained stood.

"I threw away my fear long ago. I've lost that ability when I realize that if I can't be the one to bite the kunai, who will?" Naruto instantly smirked at this as he said to the Kyuubi, eyes filled with determination.

"I keep staring at my back and I see all the people that rely on me, they're counting on me. Because of that, I am not letting them down. If you push me down, I'll just stand up again and stare back at you. It's my pride, my WILL!"

The Kyuubi stared down on the blonde that stood miraculously amidst the gathering sea of chakra that kept corroding his mind like a poison. Its eyes narrowed down towards Naruto in a scrutinizing but wordless gaze before giving of a deep and sinister chuckle.

"**Pride is the downfall of all creatures, your pride… Is your weakness, brat. It will be your doom!"**

Naruto smirked back; the pool of water was inching its way closer to his chest. "Then was it pride that struck you down fifteen years ago? Was it your pride that told you to face the Shinigami head on?"

The Kyuubi growled in hatred and snarled at the blonde, **"You will pay for that mockery, brat."**

Red chakra began to bubble on the surface of the water as it inflated and popped over each other, Naruto's smirk turned into a grimace as he began clutching his shoulders from the sudden spike in the pain that the chakra was delivering to him.

His knees felt like jelly for a second, as he almost came plopping down on the waters headfirst. He looked up at the scowling face of the demon fox, the chakra that the fox had let out was potent, it seemed that as time passed, the gradual increase of the chakra pool from to Kyuubi to his own was staggering him, now with the Kyuubi's yin chakra essentially bonding on its yang counterpart, and had slowly started trying to overpower his own chakra.

Naruto stared up wearily over to the gigantic red kitsune, as it held it opened its gigantic maw and swooped down below to the blonde, intent on consuming Naruto completely.

* * *

Grass Country:

With the creation of the Five Village Alliance with the backing of Iron Country, majority of the minor countries had started growing fearful of the situation now that the five most powerful hidden villages had joined forces.

Most of the minor countries that had animosities towards a village that one of the Main Shinobi countries broke of their alliance, to them; nothing was worth the effort of cooperating with an old enemy that caused atrocities within their land. They didn't want anything to do with the alliance; it was merely that simple fact that had created rifts between the five main villages and the rest. What had happened in order to force such a big move from Konoha, Kiri, Suna, Kumo and Iwa?

But the most dreadful question that had the daimyos of the minor countries along with the leaders of their respective villages had was, after their focus on such a monumental crisis, who was going to oppose them?

So it was then realized, slowly, but surely, that they, the minor countries, were left absolutely vulnerable for the alliance to invade them at anytime. It was frightening and it brought any leader of a minor country down to their knees in despair. Paranoia had set in, and soon, fear reared its ugly and spiteful head upon the inhabitants of the smaller countries.

However, some of the countries realized that they had two important factors that the major countries didn't have, the connecting dots that made communication and coordination in each of the countries. The major countries suffer in communication gaps. Most of the time, relaying messages from one village to another required that they cross a country or two.

The next advantage that they realized was that each ninja village that they had, accounted for more numbers in their ranks that constituted to a bigger population than any of the major countries had.

Now, they realized that with those advantages, they could oppose the alliance, if only they could move towards a united front.

It was then that each minor country had began clamouring letters and proposals to each other, alliance letters, political allegiances, inter-noble marriages, anything that would preserve the future of their country.

Then it had come to this, a meeting with the daimyos, village leaders, and all political figures of willing and participating minor countries that consisted more than eighty percent of them, now held a summit on their own on Grass country.

Granted, it wasn't as what they had expected, but it was enough to put them on even grounds against the Alliance.

"This meeting of the Federation of Minor Countries has now come to order." Said the host village leader, the man looked none too intimidating, as he wore the standard shinobi uniform a teal green vest was the distinction of his village and the dark colours of his long sleeve shirt and pants, he wore a scarf and a haori that signified his status as the leader of the Grass Village, he adjusted his spectacles and looked up at his Daimyo, giving him a piece of paper.

The leader cleared his throat and spoke, "We don't know what has occurred that forced the Alliance to suddenly happen like this, public statements mentioned that they want to counter the Akatsuki threat, a reason which, some of the minor villages didn't want to participate, particularly, Ame and Taki (Waterfall). But we don't know the true agendas that they are making."

One of the Daimyos stood from his seat and said, "That's it? _That's _the reason they created an alliance? To counter a mercenary work force? I may not know much about shinobi and their line of work, but to have such a weak excuse for forming an alliance, it's sending all the warning signs all around me. Being situated near a very aggressive village like Kumo is far too close for comfort. I will not stand by and let my country be dissolved!"

"Then how about you take my proposal then?" Asked the voice that was echoing throughout the room, all of the leaders and daimyos looked around, trying to find the presence of the unknown person.

All present within the room suddenly stood alert; with the village leaders of their respective homes stood up and frowned towards the person that had suddenly appeared from nowhere.

The hem of his black robes flapped from the gust of wind that he had appeared in, the spatial distortion on behind him vanished, as the man calmly strode towards the large circle of leaders that all looked at him warily.

Madara smiled beneath his spiral orange mask, his visible Sharingan eye squinted as he stared at each of the leaders around him. They were on edge, as each member's anxiety grew with the sound of each step that he took.

"Black robes as dark as the starless night and clouds adorned with the colour of blood… There's no mistaking it… It's Akatsuki." One of the members said, as all of the daimyos cowered in their seats.

"Like I said, I have an offer that you might possibly be interested in." Madara continued. All at once, many of the members seemed sceptical.

"What could Akatsuki possibly have to give us? Minor mercenary forces whose members have dwindled down have no place within the workings of this world!" Shouted one of them in a mocking tone; all of the people except for the masked man nodded.

Another added, "You are the reason that the alliance happened! I daresay we shall not make deals with the devil!"

"What if I tell you that you have a large chance to overpower the alliance with our help? A weight to tip the scales, so to speak." Asked Madara, some of the village leaders frowned deeper at Madara's statement. What could this man that stood in front of them, give that could possibly that would give them an edge against the strongest villages?

Silence gave Madara the answer that he had wanted.

"I have with me, seven of the nine tailed beast and with my ability, I can control them to a certain extent." Madara exclaimed in an air of absolute confidence, the people around him were automatically lured.

Everyone then talked about to themselves, contemplating about the proposal that the Uchiha patriarch had given, doubts and trust circulated the room like a silent whirlwind, as each member mumbled to the other.

Madara then continued as he now stood to the center of each of the following members, "The Alliance has forces amassing by the thousands, and each village is notorious for the quality, manpower and resources that they each possess. Even if this Federation possesses an army that is more than the total number of forces that the Alliance have, it would be utterly useless against the calibre of any ninja coming from one of the villages. Numbers play little value once the enemy have weapons and abilities that can wipe out an area in a matter of seconds."

One of the leaders then spoke up, "Of course lending us such creatures of power is by no means free. What is your aim?"

Madara quipped, "Straight to the point I see? Very well."

Madara then raised his hands and gave the numerical symbol of two on his fingers, "I simply want the Raikage's brother and the Rokudaime Hokage, preferably alive."

One of the leaders whistled at the incredulity of the man in the middle.

"Those are pretty high profile people for a mercenary group to obtain, what are you really after?"

Madara gave a simple answer, "They are Jinchuuriki, hosts to the remaining tailed beast not in my collection. I am merely a collector. I'm fascinated about the mysticism that the bijuu entail. Not only that, but using such destructive forces for military purposes is tantamount to madness and genocide. I don't want it to fall into greedy hands."

Everyone around the room, excluding the man that stood before them, looked at each other, not thoroughly convinced.

"I understand that you don't seem to particularly trust me about what is coming out of my mouth, but how about I offer my services free of charge on the first trial?" Madara asked, everyone seemed to tense at Madara's proposal.

"And when would that be?" Asked one of the Daimyos, Madara again, smiled beneath his mask, now he had them on the ropes.

"Three months from now, I will test it out on the former plains of Wood Country, just south of Earth Country, decide then, if you want Akatsuki's services or not. Just remember after that, war is declared on any nation that houses Akatsuki. That means that any nation that doesn't go with the alliance shall be declared as either hostile or suspicious. You have been warned."

"Very well…" Said one of the village leaders as they now decided upon the situation given to them.

"As of this moment, the Federation shall declare war on the Alliance and all nations that will oppose the said governing body."

Madara felt that his plans were blooming beautifully.

* * *

Myobokuzan, sealing chamber:

Naruto was breathing heavily, he was on his last legs of chakra, his sage mode was running out and to top it all off, the chakra pool of the Kyuubi was now close to the apex of his heart.

"**Pathetic, miserable, weak. All of these traits belong to you. You do not deserve my power, no human ever could! Let the world know, as of right now, the Kyuubi shall once again roam this world in the path of blood!"**

The Kyuubi again swooped down to Naruto, its mouth opening, ready to consume Naruto once again. Naruto could feel the last of sage chakra about to leave his body, as the waters were about to consume. The Kyuubi, like a maelstrom, swept through the waters, charging like a tsunami towards him, waters gushed out of its way, splashing about.

But the Kyuubi stopped, mere inches from Naruto's position, who was panting, he looked to the waters below as it receded back, slowly he stood up to the frozen form of the Kyuubi no Youko, Naruto looked at its eyes that were constricted, filled with maddening rage and surprise.

"I would prefer if you hadn't used my gift to you, Naruto-kun."

Turning to his back, Naruto was surprised to find none other than Uchiha Itachi walking slowly to his side.

"You trying to confront the Kyuubi finally mean that Sasuke has not yet returned to Konoha and has been told lies by Madara. It is such a terrible fate that you will have no other choice but to fight him."

Itachi closed his eyes for a moment of silence and lamentation, before stepping forward and touching the Kyuubi by its snout.

"My gift to you is made up of two parts, this is the first one. I impart to you at first, the essence of the Uchiha's spiritual energies, some of my chakra has already leaked into your system before when you were under my Genjutsu back then, this will be the final jumpstart to produce the same chakra as did the Rikudo Sennin, albeit on a much larger scale. This would allow you to control the Kyuubi far easier than any other human has come to possess, even more so, than Uchiha Madara himself and the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju."

Chains had suddenly popped from the waters below, as it latched itself on the nine tailed fox and was instantly subdued. As it was held down on the ground in a yip of pain, the Kyuubi looked at the Uchiha and then to its host, contempt was present all around the kitsune

"The second part of my gift will be for a later time. Welcome to your second coming, Uzumaki Naruto, or should I say, Rikudo Sennin."

With that, Naruto was immediately pulled back from the cage and was suddenly brought back to the outside world.

Outside World:

The sealing chamber's barrier died down, as the tiny, black ball that had surrounded the feral form of the Hokage. As the ball shattered in a surge of chakra, Shima, Fukasaku, and Gamakichi were tense, who would come out of that dark shell of chakra? Would it be Naruto, or the miniature form of the Kyuubi?

There stood Naruto, kneeling on the ground staring up at the sky, blood was gushing out from every pore of his body, a grimaced expression escapes his face as he slowly fell down to the ground.

With a small thud, Naruto looked up towards the night sky, in a shower of stars and the gentle glow of the moon at the dome's center.

Naruto felt his eyes close slowly, as the embrace of sleep welcomed him with open arms, with one last thought that came of mind before unconsciousness settled in came to mind, _'Thank you… Itachi.'_

A small smile escaped his bloody lip. For this night, he had claimed victory over the monstrous fox that many have feared for all their lives.

* * *

To be continued…

Author's note: A little word about the whole Rikudo Sennin thing before any of you say, 'OMG! NARUTO HAS THE RINNEGAN!"

Naruto will not, I repeat, NOT be receiving the Rinnegan. Itachi was just speaking to Naruto in a metaphorical sense so to speak. Naruto only has the chakra in the likeness of the Rikudo Sennin and not his eyes, his anatomy and physiology however, shall remain the same. Also check out the fan art that Namikaze Naruto the Sage has submitted on my profile, it's basically the Naruto I have envisioned in this fic! Many thanks, Namikaze!


	12. Rising Force

The Hokage's Will

Pre note: I apologize about the seemingly convenient DEM about the last part in the last chapter, but there is actually an explanation for this, as will be explained on the first part of this chapter, what I will address however, is the control of the bijuu as a whole. It wasn't explained in Canon just why or how could the bijuu be controlled by humans if they were fragments of a mystical beast that was apocalyptic in nature, strength of the mind probably has something to do with it, but it isn't explained just how with Madara and Hashirama, how can Madara's Sharingan control the bijuu? How does the Mokuton have the ability to do so as well? I had my thoughts about it for a long time, and I honestly hope that it COULD make sense here after all the presented stories in canon, with the catalyst being the separation of the bijuu itself. Also, this may seem sudden but this fic will be running for at least four to six more chapters, I will be ending this soon but not feel abruptly. It's been in my mind already that the story would last only a little while, twenty chapters was the maximum allotted quantity for this (in my mind, at least), It's what I thought, stretching the war won't be good, it's been running in my head for a while that it will last for a few chapters before finally reaching a two part climax. So to those that have read this up to now; you have already passed half of the chapters given. It won't be rushed, as I won't be introducing any characters or OC's focused solely on the war until it ends. For Sakura's character development, I felt it was needed, I know some of you dislike her, even outright hate her, but I feel this is what is needed to get her out of the whole saving Sasuke is important, get her head straight, start picking up the pieces herself and decide things on her own, there are reasons why I chose Konan to do this and not Tsunade, Tsunade isn't in top form after that battle with Pein, and I seriously think that the damage dealt by using Souzo Saisei for all of the villagers and her soldiers dealt a mortal blow to her, coma or no coma.

* * *

Chapter Twelve: Rising Force

_Naruto was pulled from the cage of the Kyuubi, taking him back to the realm of reality, all the while, the passive Uchiha that stood by the gate stared at the malicious form of the Kyuubi no Youko._

'_This is the most befitting form of subjugation to one such as yourself; Kyuubi.' Itachi mentioned, as the Kyuubi growled in contempt at the human that stood before it._

'_What perpetuates hatred? What denotes peace? This has been on my mind since I was a child, growing up in the chaos of the battlefield. I grew up to be a peace lover, upholding the teaching of the Senju about their ideas of the Will of Fire, their indescribable unity and harmony; I was awed by the Sandaime Hokage's sense of wisdom and his ideology rather than listen to my father's words.'_

'_Senju and Uchiha… For a long time that crevice was what separated Konoha as a whole. Rivalling families that isolate each other in a form of discrimination that utterly destroyed our home from the inside out, bridges that are made of ropes that do not remain for long, but now, there's a strong bridge that I can finally see that will reach across. It is through him, that I see that it can be possible. This is why I chose Naruto to impart an imprint of my spiritual energy and test out my theory; he is my last fail safe plan. As we are the descendants of the Rikudo Sennin, it is through us that we will one day come to understand one another, as what our progenitor's wish. Not as the descendants of the Uchiha and Senju, but as the legacy of the Rikudo Sennin himself.'_

Naruto had stared upwards on the ceiling of his room as he thought of the words that Itachi had had said to him before.

What did he mean by 'New Rikudo Sennin'?

Naruto sat from his bed that night and got out of the small hut that Shima and Fukasaku stayed in.

Once he got out, he headed for the nearest Cliffside and sat down at the edge, staring into the cold night sky.

"Can't sleep, Naruto-chan?" Asked a familiar voice, Naruto turned around and saw Fukasaku was up as well, the old toad was sitting near his side as well.

Naruto shook his head "No… I was bothered by what happened during the moments of my facing with the Kyuubi."

"Does it have to do with the obtained control over it?" Asked Fukasaku.

"In a way, yes, I want to know what exactly was Itachi saying about me being the new Rikudo Sennin, that and how come I can control the Kyuubi better." Naruto muttered, he then remembered the harsh words of the Kyuubi directed to him, mocking him and insulting him, ridiculing his ideals that it even involved Jiraiya's memory. Naruto could feel himself get angry by the moment.

"It may be just a speculation on my part, Naruto-chan, but I believe it has something to do with the fact that the Uchiha and the Senju were the direct descendants of the Rikudo Sennin himself." Fukasaku answered as he put his front legs on his back as he stared into the white moon that illuminated the night.

"We know that the origin of the Bijuu came from the day that the Rikudo Sennin had split of the power of the Juubi into nine different creatures and that the descendants of the Rikudo Sennin have shown capability in controlling the tailed beasts, given the records of the battles between Uchiha Madara and Senju Hashirama." Fukasaku continued as Naruto nodded in understanding.

"If it came to that, those two had something in common yet different from the Rikudo Sennin. It is said that the direct descendants of the Rikudo Sennin inherited parts of a whole as they say, the spiritual energies of the Uchiha and the physical energy of the Senju."

Naruto then raised his eyebrow in question as Fukasaku continued, "As you know, those are the energies that make up chakra. And if anything were to go by when involving something ambitious as say, splitting the Juubi apart, then chakra would be the most obvious thing that would be contaminated in each of the existing bijuu. Simply put, the chakra that the Rikudo Sennin had used on the Juubi could have had a seemingly intended side-effect of the descendants showing control to the bijuu whose genes were strong enough to manifest, in this case, it was Senju Hashirama and Uchiha Madara. One who can control the bijuu using his life force, the other using chakra directed from his eyes. That contamination of chakra from the Rikudo Sennin to the bijuu is what probably allowed you to control the beast within you."

"But it still hasn't explained about me being what Itachi said. I didn't have the slightest sliver of talent that allowed me to control my beast."

Fukasaku shook his head, "Think about it Naruto-chan, the only thing consistent about the gifts that each of the brothers had was the Rikudo Sennin's chakras, as time passed; many of his traits either dwindled or varied to another. The only thing that remained consistent coming from him, were the chakras that were separated, it remained as the single most consistent trait that each of the clans posses. And it probably still continues to this era. Itachi-san must have been questioning the same thing."

Fukasaku then continued, "However, compared to the real Rikudo Sennin, your chakra is somewhat only a copy, and no matter how much a plagiarist is good in copying a work, it will still have a different structure inside. Do you understand? You are a living hypothesis; a theory waiting to be proven. Unless you get to control the bijuu itself with the chakra given to you, I cannot say that it will work flawlessly, as it cannot be proven until we can test it, the existence of the Rikudo Sennin in ages past was filled with mystery and near mythical in nature so it would be very hard to prove that with a chakra signature that is as close to the Sennin as possible that you can control the bijuu."

"I think I get it now. Thanks Fukasaku-sensei, it really cleared my head there." Naruto said with small smile escaping his lips, the elder toad smiled to the blonde as well, before looking out towards the night sky, this time, it was the elder's turn to ask Naruto, "Have you found out the answer in your quest yet, Naruto-chan?"

Naruto shook his head as he continued to look out, "No, I haven't. I'm still looking, but I'm sure, I'll find it someday…"

Naruto let out a melancholic smile. As he stood up and walked back towards the hut all the while, he muttered, "Someday."

As he stared at the night for the last time, he could feel that something edged closer and closer everyday, something big was about to happen and a feeling of anxiety escaped inside him everyday.

* * *

Kumo:

Killer Ē stood at near the window of his office by the Cliffside. He looked down below to where his subordinates had begun moving through the bustling city of the most powerful shinobi village as of now.

Kumo was getting edgy. Four months had passed since the signing of the treaty and the full establishment of the alliance of six nations, and the Elemental Countries since then grew in a silent but hostile environment. It was an uneasy feeling, as villages all around the Godaikoku began to cut off trade routes EVERYWHERE, stockpiling resources left and right with travelling merchants beginning to dwindle by the start of the fourth month.

The Raikage viewed his troops assembling before the entrance to his building; the man looked on his back to see Darui kneeling before him with his brother who had his hands on the back of his head.

"Raikage-sama, the troops that you have requested have arrived."

The Raikage merely nodded and silently went out.

Darui, curious of the behaviour of the Raikage was about to ask, that is, until Killer Bee had interjected.

"Yo Bro, why so gloom? It's as if you're walkin' to your doom!"

The Raikage stopped and looked back to his brother just before he opens the door.

"Bee, you have known just how much I have loved my village and my country more than anyone. That's why I wanted to create a strong nation, to oppose those that try to trample our people, our pride. It is a strength that I wanted to attain ever since I was a mere chuunin, after discovering the news of a monstrous shinobi that existed in Konoha during the third Great Shinobi War, I grew fearful of the day that Konoha might one day turn their sights here, I realized just how the strong dictate this world. But now…"

The Raikage raised his right hand as his gauntlet was slightly shown with the sleeve sliding down. The Raikage looked at his hand as if it was something worth to be disgusted about and said, "It seems that even the strong can be opposed and loathed at most. I've realized that the mistake that I caused of focusing solely on our country and causing such crimes everywhere."

It was then that the Raikage continued, "But it didn't mean that I should wallow in that guilt. There is not a day after the summit that I wished for this war to have never happened. But it has, so I have no other choice but to fight in it. I am the Raikage after all, and putting up a weak front for my people to see would be a reason for my fall."

The Raikage then raised his right hand, as he said to his younger brother, "Bee, if we win this war, I can give you that vacation you've always wanted. Just don't get out of our sights, your impulsiveness could very well damn us all!"

The Raikage then turned his back and faced the door.

"Now let's get out there and we're going to give an ass kicking like we've never done before, as the strongest nation there is!"

Fired up by his speech, the Raikage didn't bother to open the door and instead, had charged through it like a mad bull, shattering and sending splinters all around the hallway outside.

Darui merely sighed as he grabbed a small piece of paper and began scribbling notes as Bee stood up, shrugging as he walked towards the place where his brother was going to. Darui sighed again and placed the note on the Raikage's desk and walked out. Really, giving morale to a courier mission to Konoha was needlessly necessary.

* * *

Konoha:

It was as predicted, or so Tsunade thought, intelligence reports had started pouring in this morning. It was as Shikaku stated, Akatsuki had most of the minor countries as its sponsors. It started to be obvious when there were sudden inter-marriage proposals from the different daimyos that ruled their respective countries. Just about a month ago, many allied minor countries from Suna, Iwa and Kumo broke off from their respective treaties, blocking trade routes to many of the common roads that lead to the different villages. It was one of the reasons why travelling merchants were dwindling around Fire Country. Many of the remaining trade routes weren't safe or totally improbable to cross.

As soon as that happened, many of them clamoured for local trade instead, circulating trade and industry around the villages in their respective countries and what little allies they had left, Suna and Iwa had a particularly hard time. With that in mind, it was getting harder and harder to maintain provisions and stocks while Konoha lay decimated after Pein's invasion.

The reconstruction was put to a halt however, with thirty percent of the village now back in operations; Konoha was slowly starting to pick up the pieces of what has been the most devastating attack since the invasion three years ago. It crippled them surely, but thanks to well made alliances with its neighbouring countries, trade and industry were certainly circulating well enough on international standards, so the hurt of embargos from the more distrustful countries was surely eased by that predicament.

Tsunade had breathe a sigh of relief after that, at least her workload reduced to half for the meantime, the only thing she had to sign were authorization letters for the village reconstruction and supplies for re-activating the shinobi war time program; all shinobi within the active roster must have an intense training regimen for at least two months and must in accordance, master an offensive type jutsu and at least know basic life support, first aid and one healing jutsu.

Tsunade cracked a smile at this; Sarutobi had finally authorized her proposal after all these years. It was one thing that Tsunade FINALLY gave a relieved smile.

The invasion three years ago served as a warning to her and now it felt right that at least their ninja were more prepared now. Better equipped, and have higher chances of surviving than they did before.

As soon as she slumped back from her chair for some rest from the headaches produced by paperwork and her successor's goofy tendencies to leave his post albeit for legitimate reasons, Tsunade rubbed her temples in annoyance.

"Retired Godaime my ass, I swear that brat just wants to make me suffer from this insufferable amount of work!" She yelled, as she leaned back on her chair.

A sudden barge through the door had interrupted her relaxation time however,

"Godaime-sama!" Shouted her assistant as the said woman turned around in surprise, Shizune shouted, from the top of her lungs,

"Takigakure has just been invaded by Kusagakure!"

Alarmed at the sentence left by her apprentice, Tsunade's eyes widened in disbelief as she pushed herself away from her desk, stood up, and shouted

"WHAT!? WHEN DID THIS HAPPEN!?"

"Reports ushered in this morning; we don't exactly know the details of how many shinobi were sent by Kusagakure. But it could border to about one thousand troops deployed."

Tsunade then balled her hands into fists. A distinct popping sound was heard as the Godaime shouted in fury, "SEND SCOUTS AND CHECK THE BORDER FOR ANY SIGNS OF HOSTILE UNITS AND MONITOR THE SITUATION! SECURE THE AREAS TO OUR ALLIED NEIGHBOURING COUNTRIES PARTICULARLY WAVE! I DON'T WANT THOSE BASTARDS CUTTING OFF TRADE ROUTES FROM ANY OF THE REMAINING ALLIED COUNTRIES THAT WE HAVE!"

Shizune saluted and dashed out of her office. Tsunade sat back into her chair in deep thought.

This attack was provoking Konoha to take action, and Tsunade was being tempted dangerously close to letting it happen, but she knew she can't act unless the order was given by the supreme commander, who is entitled to command all the forces from six villages. If she were to act now, then this would serve as a bad reputation towards Konoha as a whole and to the commander itself.

Acting independently would force the remaining Kages to act on their own as well, plunging the Godaikoku to chaos.

She could feel the tense atmosphere escaping through the air at the moment, as her heart started beating faster. She could literally feel it, the feeling that she had years ago, an anxiety that she never thought she would face again. That fragile peace that kept this continent together for the last twenty years or so was about to be shattered once again.

It was the beginning of war.

* * *

Iwa:

Ryuutenbi no Onoki, feared leader of Iwa, walked in front of his men, assessing them like an ever vigilant watchdog, his brows were close to meeting each other as he leaned in closer to the men that stood straight.

When news of a massive embargo had occurred throughout Earth Country's remaining allies surrounding it along with a sudden arms race all around, Onoki could feel perturbed at how risky the alliance was. It was probably one of his reasons for not agreeing with it, why not just trade information with the remaining villages itself? It would have worked all the same and not risk economic and political disasters all around the world. Now, this kind of disaster has struck, all because of the ruling of fear and bigotry that existed in every human.

Onoki shook his head; none of their former minor allies would believe the sole reason why they wanted to create the alliance in the first place.

"Fools… The lot of 'em" Onoki muttered under his breath, as his comment went unnoticed to one of his guards, Akazuchi.

"What are you talking about, old man?"

Onoki merely turned his head towards the said to her, "I meant that those people that had put their trust in Akatsuki; supporting that madman's ideals, goals and ambitions. I cannot fathom as to what kind of lies did that man sputter out to the minor countries for them to act like this. What about you Kurotsuchi, how do you see this war?"

Kurotsuchi merely bowed her head and asked, "Why are you asking me this, old man?"

"Humor this old man, would you?" Onoki replied as he then began to walk up the stairs that led to his office slowly.

"I think it's pointless." Said Kurotsuchi, Onoki merely stopped at that sentence as his female guard continued.

"I think all war is pointless. There's no sense of victory when everything is over, you said back then old man 'that no nation benefits in war. There is no definitive gain in battle but terrible losses on all sides. In the end, winning is but a hollow thing.'"

Onoki smiled and said to her, "I taught you well, Kurotsuchi, you may become my successor yet."

Kurotsuchi smirked and added, "Don't be such a prude and just give me my title, old man."

"No." Onoki answered simply as Kurotsuchi stared at the old man who was looking away from his subordinate.

"There are still many things that I must do for this world, many more things that I must atone for. I regret the fact that we were the first to use the Jinchuuriki program, I regret the fact that I neglected Han and left Roushi alone. Perhaps, on the road as being Tsuchikage, I lost myself on the way."

"Before my time ends, I wish to atone for all of the mistakes I've made. Regrets are the last thing I want on my grave."

With that, the Tsuchikage had walked up only to find an utterly painful stabbing like pain on his hips.

"OOOOOOOOHHHHHHH! MY HIPS!"

Kurozuchi sighed, the feared leader of Iwagakure, now reduced to this. Shaking her head, she assisted the old man up blocking out any protest coming from their beloved leader.

But never could it be said, that she was not worried about the gamble that the alliance had made to their supreme commander. What she hoped for at least, was that this war would not be a slow and painful one.

* * *

Unknown Location:

It was dark, hazy, and damp. Tiny droplets of water fell and resonated within the near pitch black colour inside the cave. Faint wisps of chakra escaped from within, dancing into the air before quickly vanishing.

"**Seek not penance for the wicked, walk the path of vengeance and you shall find that karma seeks retribution, none must stand in their way, even God.**** And should you encounter Him on your journey, God shall be cut."** The black half of Zetsu commented, eyeing the unmoving form of Uchiha Sasuke, as the said avenger stood erect with hands clasped together as if in a prayer.

"Eh? What does that mean?" Asked the white half, the black then commented.

"**To walk the pa****th of vengeance means to tread the path of blind hatred and destruction. A curse as to one what might say, that even the gods shall not ever seek redemption on his soul."**

It was then that Sasuke opened his eyes and the Sharingan flared to life, its three Tomoe spinning madly on its blood red iris contorting and reforming to change into a six pointed star shape of the Mangekyou Sharingan that somehow gained the three crescents like black waves around the pupil.

Sasuke's left eye bled, as it spouted forth spontaneously the black flames as hot as the sun shooting out in the field of his vision. The everlasting flames of Amaterasu crept forth to where Sasuke's vision was, as the flames that left his vision dissipated.

Sasuke closed his eyes, fully suppressing the black flames of the named Sun Goddess.

In a span of half a year, Tobi stood impressed over the progress of his new puppet. Uchiha Sasuke progressed on an unprecedented rate; his expected six month plan for Sasuke was reduced to a total five months and gained a new summon to his arsenal for a bonus. Granted, with this much time reduction in his training program, Sasuke would be prone to do anything that he wanted. Madara hadn't foreseen this; he hadn't realized Sasuke's how drive meant so much to him.

"My choices are my own." Sasuke had mentioned, turning to face Zetsu

"I'm not blind enough to kill people that don't stand against me. Those who wronged my family shall receive what is rightfully theirs. If they fear the power of the Uchiha this much, then I'll be their fear's incarnation."

With this, Sasuke turned his back on Madara and approached his sleeping chambers.

"**I never expected the brat to be this fast in re-acquainting himself with the Sharingan. He's even fully controlled Amaterasu**** again."**

Tobi shook his head, "But compared to Itachi, who had the Ultimate Genjutsu, Sasuke doesn't have the power to alter the perception of time with his Sharingan."

Tobi then continued, "It is truly a great difference between the two, Sasuke, who has full control of the ultimate Katon and Itachi, who wields the most powerful Genjutsu. No matter what, those two are like the sun and the moon."

Zetsu's white half then asked, "Now that Sasuke has earned full control of that Mangekyou, he'll demand more coming from you, Madara. He's like a hungry lion in a den, he can't be tamed."

"That is probably one of my most disturbing concerns Zetsu, I simply can't let Sasuke slip at the most crucial moment of these events, but I can't let his training drag on lest he wants to betray me. Powerful I may be, but I need Sasuke to further my plans and use Gedo Mazo to ascend."

Zetsu's black half then said, **"Your promise to me for a land, you still haven't forgotten, have you?"**

Tobi chuckled beneath his mask, "Of course, Zetsu, you aren't being left out. Just remain alive after this war is over and you'll be receiving what is due to yours."

"Good." His white half said.

In their brief silence, only the drops of water were heard inside the cave, with each man left to ponder to their own thoughts.

* * *

One month later:

Naruto looked back to his masters that had guided him throughout the period of six months.

"Naruto, before you leave, I must warn you about something." Fukasaku mentioned looking grim.

"That jutsu you created one month ago… I've seen you practice it; I advise that you don't use it unless you really are in a bad situation. The Fourth was smart enough to leave behind notes and principles to his jutsu, however, compared to your version, it's basically impractical."

Naruto merely replied with a small grin, "I'm not one to break promises, Fukasaku-sensei, so I won't tell you that I will not use it under any circumstance."

Fukasaku shook his head, "I just hope that you know the gravity of the price to be paid for that specific jutsu."

With that, Naruto gave a thumb up with a smile.

"I don't plan on dying early, unless I find that answer, I'll still be here, even if it takes me an eternity."

With that, Naruto vanished in a poof of smoke.

Eastern Sea, Boundary between Lightning Country and Water Country:

The landmass that separated Lightning Country and Fire Country were comprised of nations that were part of the newly established federation, with the normal routes being blocked off from the differing states all around, courier missions were now being conducted by sea to Water Country then to Fire Country.

Since the minor countries saw this as an act of defiance, the landmass that situated near the sea of Water Country created intercepting ships that patrol within its area of responsibility, so much as a small ship enters its seas would be utterly destroyed before arriving to Water Country. The Raikage couldn't afford to take the initiative; it might cause the rest of the minor countries to retaliate, even as the strongest nation of the continent, prudency with a knife tucked under the sleeve just in case was still one of Kumo's main approaches to politics.

Omoi looked on with an anxiety on his face; the countless ships that stood before him made him take a gulp of his own saliva. His nervousness shown, he gripped his sword tightly with his right hand. The ships rocked to and fro in the dark night. As the full moon's reflection shimmered on the water along with the stars, Omoi couldn't help but feel that something was about to go wrong.

Then, as he looked to his right, he could see another fleet coming from the east, just as he peered in closer, he could see globes of little orange lights that came from each ship; Omoi could suddenly feel his anxiety turning into fear. The air around their fleet made the tension thicken so much that Omoi could feel like he could cut it and feel the resistance to his blade.

Just then, strips of orange wisps began arching to the sky, coming from ships that as far as Omoi can see. Like meteors crashing to earth, the wisps of what is now clearly fire, rained down on the ship that Omoi and his team were currently riding, as a barrage of flaming arrows began piercing the ship. Omoi loudly cursed as he began to run inside to get his teammates and at least device a way to stave of those unholy objects that started to burn the mast of their ship.

"Karui, Samui! Get up! It's an attack!"

Standing in alarm, the two females awoke from their beds, grabbing their equipment and heading outside, the three nins were met with a blazing wall of fire that danced around them.

The sailors that maintain the ship were in frenzy, getting the wounded out and putting out the flames. Karui stood impassive as she watched two men carry a dead member of their crew with one sailor cursing and on the verge of tears as he shouted out his friend's name.

"How could they sneak up on us like this!? What happened to our lookouts and interceptors!?" Samui shouted, Karui looked sharply at the brown girl and said, "Now isn't the time for finding out about our lookouts, we need to suppress the fire and let this ship remain afloat."

As the members of the team began helping the crew in putting off the flames, a large, almost thunderous explosion shattered the lower part of the ship's bow, sending burnt or still burning splinters in every which way.

Samui suddenly realized that it was the direction Karui had run into earlier. The eldest of Killer Bee's students watched in shocked horror as she hit the deck, the sounds of people screaming inside the vessel, she struggled to get up as the ringing in her ears continued to screech.

It was then that one of the sailors had walked towards her, while shouldering a slightly burned but nonetheless breathing Karui. Omoi had then jumped down towards them, grabbing Samui and resting her arm on his shoulders.

"The ship is tilting downwards; we need to get away now, Samui!"

"Karui… Carry her instead of me, I'm still conscious, I can get up on my own in a minute."

"We don't have time for that, Samui! The ship's bow is taking a huge amount of water! I can carry you both instead!"

It was then that the sound of a bell began clanging from the main cabin of the ship.

"The Taichou has ordered to abandon ship!" Shouted the first mate.

As soon as that statement was announced, dozens of the sailors jumped into the cold sea water below, with the ship now standing diagonally with its rudder at the peak of its height, with the bow submerged below.

"Damn those federation bastards, attacking an unarmed cargo vessel, merciless cowards!" Omoi said as he hefted Karui on her back while Samui held on to her teammate's shoulder as he stood on the surface of the water.

"Damn it, and in the middle of the sea… The others won't be able to pick us up fast like this." Samui muttered under her breath as she saw in front.

Shinobi charging from their respective vessels jumped down and ran towards their opposing vessels.

Samui, now recovering from the impact of the explosion, stood on the water surface as well.

"We'll need to get these sailors to safety first. Omoi, carry Karui to one of the ships, make sure that ship is away from the battlefield and is out of range, preferably, one that will reach Water Country faster. Then come back here and help me carry as much as possible."

Omoi nodded before taking a step. He looked back at his team leader and asked, "Samui, what do you think could have caused this kind of attack?"

Samui shook her head, "It could be anything, either as a statement of defiance or simply wrong navigation. Either way, we need to get these people out of here. Now go!"

Omoi nodded and dashed towards the nearest ship he could find, once he climbed on the ship, he climbed to the captain's deck, setting Karui down on the nearest wall, he barged in on the cabin and said,

"Turn this ship back! There are men overboard just from the north!"

The captain turned, old age featured in his face as wrinkles were drawn on his cheek and forehead, long strands of white hair reached to his shoulders as he wore a grey Shihakusho over fishnet armor, tucked in his brown pants, a green sash acted as the belt with a daito nestled on his right hip.

"I can't do that, son."

Omoi froze for a moment, as the dread of seeing those men that had helped them before die on the frigid waters of the sea; he cringed and then gritted his teeth, before finally regaining his voice to speak.

"What do you mean you can't do it!? Are you going to let them die like this!?"

"Son, I can't risk rescuing a crew in the middle of an ambush. Believe me, I want to save them as well, I want to help them. But I don't want to put my men in danger and risk this ship of sinking as well. Ambushes are pretty much unpredictable, there could be ships that we think are on our side and then suddenly, they invade this one like flies to a carcass. If you want to save them, fine. But I'm going to leave it to your hands. People die in wars, it's the rule of battle, you're a shinobi, you should know about this stuff from the get go."

Omoi burrowed his eyebrows and stared at the captain in sheer but silent anger. He clenched his fists and turned around.

"And you should know that we don't play by the rules." Omoi said as he ran down and jumped to the waters, his feet landing on the surface and didn't plunge further.

"I'm going to save them… Whether you like it or not!"

With that, Omoi ran towards the place where the ship last sunk.

* * *

Konoha:

As soon as Naruto appeared back in Konoha, he immediately went to a beeline straight to his office, hearing rumours of invasion, war, and minor countries passed by his ears and could feel the dread escaping from his chest.

It was frightening, as if the atmosphere itself was saturated with fear and anxiety enough to even suffocate a man. As soon as he was in his office, Tsunade gladly let Naruto take the reigns from her as she debriefed him of the current situation. Naruto looked at the stacks of paperwork and began to read, frowning and cursing up a storm as he read every mission report, every surveillance report, and every damn thing that occurred throughout the course of six months. To his utter shock and disbelief, the minor countries had begun to materialize their fear and distrust towards the major powers, ultimately signing an international treaty for an organization that blatantly opposed the alliance.

Naruto cursed under his breath, the situation was leaving a bad taste in his mouth, and even with his return the unease was only slightly lifted.

It seemed all too unsure, they had known that even the mightiest warrior can fall in the hands of many, a fact that had stirred them to reality about their leader when Tobirama volunteered to be left behind and distract a numerable number of shinobi.

What would happen if it goes like that again? Who will lead them? Who will serve as their leader?

Men and women alike looked on wary and concerned to their beloved leaders. After all, even the Yondaime, Namikaze Minato, considered being the pinnacle ninja of this era, the seemingly un-killable yellow flash fell at the hands of no mere human. He fell in the paws of the menacing Kyuubi.

The thought had scared them, after all, if Minato died in battle, then such a thing was even more possible to Naruto and even more so to Tsunade.

"I don't believe this." Naruto said in exasperation, holding his forehead with his right hand and began massaging his temples.

"We discussed over this six months ago, you shouldn't be surprised." Tsunade mentioned, sitting on the couch right next to the desk.

"I know. It's just that I can't believe that what Shikaku mentioned turned out to be true." Naruto answered, leaning back in his chair.

"Well, you should. People listen to their fears, their anger and hate. It's the most exploitable and destructive emotion a human can ever have. Sometimes, even talks aren't enough." Tsunade commented as she opened a bottle of sake that had been delivered earlier, taking a small sip, she looked to the four photos framed on the upper wall below the door leading to the hallway.

"Fear breeds hatred, hatred breeds spite and spite breeds wrath. I've learned that from the pervert and from my grandfather, perhaps Jiraiya had the sentiment of being human out of the Three Sannin. He was chauvinistic, but he had a deep understanding of being alive. Mercy was his biggest downfall, but mercy well placed."

Tsunade closed her eyes and the image of a young Jiraiya stood before a black pitch of darkness.

'_Yo. I'm Jiraiya; you can send me a love letter later.'_

Naruto smiled as Tsunade smiled on her own.

"If he were alive right now, he would be so happy that you were thinking about him. I wonder why you didn't seem to see him that way." Naruto remarked, Tsunade had a smirk on her face.

"That's because friends usually don't. Jiraiya even realized it somewhere down the line. Besides, what kind of woman would want an open skirt chaser?" Tsunade remarked with a smirk, Naruto laughed a little.

"Well, I can't blame him for being like that. Being dumped over and over again could do that to a guy." Naruto answered, Tsunade raised her eyebrow at her successor.

"I thought it was the exact opposite, then again, Jiraiya wasn't exactly the norm. You on the other hand, are different yet, not of the norm as well." Tsunade smirked and pointed to the Rokudaime.

"What?" Naruto looked on innocently

"I heard from Sakura about what happened with the Mizukage, she seemed… Overly forward with you."

"What exactly did Sakura tell you? I mean, aside from the constant flirting she's giving me, which I'm pretty sure is just an infatuation, there was only political business with the whole event on the summit, well, aside from the whole interruptions that occurred." Naruto narrowed his eyes to his predecessor

"Oh, so that's what their calling it these days, is it? Political Business."

Naruto slowly catching on Tsunade's tirade raised his eyebrows.

"Uh huh, and you're suspecting me of being in to older women?" Naruto questioned.

"Oh, I'm not implying anything, it's might be that the Mizukage just likes younger boys a, what was it that Jiraiya said again? A shotacon?" She gave a grin that spread from ear to ear as Naruto paled and suddenly turned to different shades of red

"Oh, fuck you, baa-chan! You know it's only business and that's the way it's going to be! I've got a village to run!" Naruto retaliated, causing Tsunade to burst out laughing.

"Damn it, Naruto, I never knew you were this fun to tease!"

Naruto growled at that. His eyebrows now narrowing closer and closer, until a sudden barge from the door placed his guard up as did Tsunade.

"Hokage-sama! Danzo has escaped!"

Naruto smirked inwardly; it was time to take this plan into motion.

* * *

Earth Country, southern border, former Wood Country:

Madara stood on the grassy planes that were just outside the village of Wood Country, he looked around, and found no patrols on sight. Upon knowing the coast was clear from Zetsu, Madara's visible eye contorted, showing his smile underneath his mask.

"It's time, Zetsu, stand back; I think it's time to show the minor countries the toys that I'm allowing them to use."

With that, Madara clasped his hands together in a hand seal and molded his chakra, the wisps of blue energy circulated around him creating an updraft force. He then grabbed a single kunai and slit his right thumb drawing blood. Going for the five handseals required to perform Kuchiyose no Jutsu, Madara slammed his hands on the floor and the summoning circles stretched to the ground.

In an enormous amount of smoke, a grotesque monster that had nine eyes with its head pointing upwards and its hands cupped together at he base of the palm, it gave a menacing growl and opened its mouth.

Acrid white smoke escaped it, as it flew to the air and danced in the winds.

Madara spoke, "I don't need Gedo Mazo to synch with a person when I go out and release a bijuu for a limited time. That's more of a sealing purpose for the Hachibi and Kyuubi, Sasuke won't be satisfied until he completes his quest, but it doesn't mean that I have to postpone my plans any longer than I should have. It's a shame I couldn't fully bring him to our side and had to go look for the elders, but that is neither here nor there anymore. Eventually, Naruto and Sasuke would clash and eventually, the result shall be the same, me ascending to my rightful place as the jinchuuriki of the Juubi."

Madara then went to the right palm of the seemingly petrified monster and said.

"Four Tails would do nicely." Madara nodded and soon, the monster began to growl as it made a somewhat regurgitating sound, chakra exploded into the air, like rushing water from a fountain, as the menacing chakra of the tailed beast of Madara's choosing began to take on a physical form.

The four tailed giant monkey faded into existence and growled about. Madara hoped into its forehead, as his Eternal Mangekyou flared to life.

The beast growled and finally roared, letting out an ear piercing screech as it began to wildly trash about. Madara calmed it down with the mere presence of his chakra.

The aged man then jumped over to its head and stood there with his hands clasped in the seal of the ram.

"I only have a full ten minutes before this wears me down. I need to do a lot of damage as possible." Madara muttered to himself as the eyes of the four tailed beast glowed in an eerie and ominous red streaking as its head turned, chakra began to condense from the monster as tilted its head upwards before finally spewing out lava from its mouth to the ground.

The trail of molten rock ravaged the ground as it rapidly burned trees and set ablaze anything in its path. The said tailed beast let out another screech as it crouched down growling at the small village below. It sprinted its down to the village like a rabid dog, eager to cause destruction.

Madara thought solemnly, as the village below began to be lit up in flames.

'_Today… Would be raining blood.'

* * *

_

With Taka:

It was hot, too hot; Suigetsu looked like he was ready to die from the humidity. Suigetsu, being made up of mostly water, didn't find it all amusing that they had to trek to the tropical parts of the world in order to look for two old people. The fact that he was hefting Kubikiri Houcho didn't help at all.

"The birds say that two aged people were seen just to the south of here a small town, probably there to restock and resupply."

Sasuke merely continued his walk; Suigetsu felt the need to grab one of his numerous water bottles and decided to drink.

"Damned heat, damned humidity, I can't seriously think of anything productive under this weather." Said Suigetsu, taking another gulp from his water container.

"Quit your damn complaining, you kappa! It's far too early for your whining, if it wasn't for Sasuke I would've-" Karin was suddenly cut off from her speech when she suddenly felt another presence near them. Karin could feel the malice coming out from the man, it came in waves, it also came in to a feeling she hadn't felt before.

Insanity.

"I see that we meet again, Sasuke-kun!" Said the voice, jumping to a rock with his face covered, the man chuckled darkly as it turned to full blown laughter. Sasuke looked at the mysterious figure and recognized the voice.

"Kabuto." Sasuke merely stated as Kabuto removed his hood with a wide smile on his face, his the skin on his cheeks were peeling away, as his irises were now gold with a slit as the pupil.

"Right you are, Sasuke-kun…" Said the man, as he now leaned forward, staring at the impassive Uchiha straight at the eye.

"What are you doing here?" Asked Sasuke.

"Oh, I was just trying to find you, I never knew how hard it was to track down Akatsuki members."

"Taka is not part of Akatsuki, nor will we ever be." Sasuke mentioned, Kabuto seemed to think otherwise though.

"Oh? Rumours say another thing. But enough about that, let me tell you what I want from you." Kabuto sneered this time, as his body know slithered its way down the rock, much like that of a snake.

"I came here, to take my revenge on you. For killing Orochimaru-sama!" Kabuto mentioned, Sasuke withdrew his blade from the scabbard and said.

"Interesting… Let me see, if your hatred surpasses mine."

"Suigetsu, Karin, let's step back." Juugo mentioned, the two behind the large man nodded,

Lightning crackled from Sasuke's blade as it screeched loudly from the discharge of the electricity.

"Be gone, wretched snake." Sasuke commanded, shooting his Chidori Eisou (One Thousand Birds Chirping Long Sword) straight to the adjutant of the deceased snake Sannin.

To be Continued…

* * *

Well, there you have it, another update and another reminder, I've been doing a lot of work lately so I couldn't really put my time for this, it helped me set my gears for this war. Hope you enjoyed this chapter.

Also, I'm withholding any comments for the current chapter, though it was fun reading the hate filled comments from the forums and placing memes to annoy them more. Anyway, I think I'll be doing this type of updating once in a while. I'll see what I can do from there.


	13. Malus

Pre-note: I seem to have failed to review my geography of the Naruto world here, so I decided to tweak the last chapter, I wanted Tea Country to be invaded, simply because I wanted to have a scene with Ibiki, but since I canned it, I changed the invaded country. Hope it makes sense now.

* * *

Chapter 13: Malus

The crackle of lightning screeched forth around the humid parts of the area, as dust clouds had burst forth from the rock that was split from Sasuke's Chidori Eisou.

Kabuto cackled madly as he slithered around, letting off that improbable smile as his hands glowed with chakra.

Sasuke's indifferent facade however, seemed to remain the same, only the Uchiha raised his right eyebrow.

'_He evaded that fast.'_

Kabuto instantly closed the distance between him and Sasuke, still wearing that menacing grin, with a flick of his right hand, chakra began to concentrate on his palm as Kabuto gave a reverse chop to Sasuke's torso, Sasuke leaned back and watched in complete detail as the chakra scalpel that Kabuto used on him missed.

Sasuke then switched the grip of his sword to a reverse grip with the tip of the blade dropping down on Kabuto's head.

Sasuke then dropped the blade to impale the man's cranium, when Kabuto reacted by twisting his body to the side, and encircled the youngest Uchiha like a coiling snake binding his arms and legs. Kabuto's maniacal grin didn't drop one bit, as his hands now both glowed with the chakra scalpel, Kabuto then swung his arms from the side to the middle to form a cross chop on Sasuke's neck, targeting his carotid arteries and jugular veins. Sasuke instantly grew into a panic and struggled as his eyes widened when Kabuto's palms that glowed with chakra phased through Sasuke's neck.

The struggling immediately halted and in silence, the three watched as this man tore through Sasuke's blood vessels like paper. Sasuke didn't cough, no, instead, a trickle of blood was all that escaped from his mouth as the grip from his Kusanagi was loosened, the tip of the sword impaling the ground.

"I didn't know you were this easy to kill, Sasuke-kun!" Kabuto cackled, as he continued.

"What are you talking about?"

Kabuto's golden slit eyes widened as he turned his head to his right, finding the Uchiha unharmed with Kusanagi in his left hand diagonally pointing to the ground, with the tip dripping in blood.

Blood gushed forth from the Medic Nin's elongated torso, spraying the life giving fluid all around.

"You placed me in a Genjutsu! I never noticed you whip it out as well!" Kabuto shouted with that grin turning into grimace as he fell down.

"The moment you stared into my eyes, I already placed you in a Genjutsu as a precautionary measure. It looked like I was right in you showing your hostility towards me." Sasuke mentioned as his right hand crackled with electricity. The sound of a thousand birds chirping echoed throughout the area, crackling with uncontrollable sparks. With a monotonous voice, Sasuke impassively retracted his right hand and drove the technique straight to Kabuto's chest.

"Chidori. (Chirping of a Thousand Birds)"

Kabuto howled in pain, the feeling of electrocution surging throughout his body dominated his senses, as he felt numb from the pain that Sasuke inflicted.

Sasuke's hand protruded from the middle of Kabuto's chest, as the man looked on in shock. Sasuke extracted his arm coated with the man's blood, and deactivated his Sharingan.

As he began to walk away, not even taking a third step, Sasuke heard a chuckle coming from the assumed corpse. Sasuke turned around and saw that Kabuto's chest now littered with hundreds of white snakes as it began to reform, closing the hole completely and mending it.

"Don't you remember the power of the White Snake Sasuke-kun, along with my ability as well?" Kabuto slowly got up. his chest now fully repaired the torn cloth showed proof of the perfectly new skin.

"This regenerative power, along with my ability to infuse every cell in my body with chakra, has given me a regeneration rate that is on par with Tsunade-sama's ability to regenerate lost cells!" Kabuto looked at Sasuke with that grin present again. As he raised his right arm, giving an ephemeral glow, the forearm of the medic was now covered in scales.

"Though, the longer I use chakra, the more potent Orochimaru-sama's cells become. Just standing here while doing the regeneration technique with my chakra is driving me to the brink of insanity!" Kabuto's cheeks now began to chafe, as it started to break down showing another set of scales.

"Though with this technique and this wondrous power, I can never die in battle!" Kabuto shouted as his body then disintegrated and changed into groups of snakes.

Sasuke was quick to react, and jumped towards the tallest rock to survey the area around him and give him a higher ground and limiting Kabuto's movement around.

It was then that four gigantic snakes had erupted from the ground opening its maw trying to swallow Sasuke whole.

* * *

Kiri:

Five boats, only five out of the twenty convoy boats sent out by Lightning Country have made it out from the ambush that had occurred three days ago at the northern part of Water's Country's seas. Of the twenty boats, there had been fifteen messengers assigned to deliver their messages to Water Country and the rest of the remaining allies of Fire Country, now, only three managed to get out of the conflict alive.

Seeing the sombre faces of the three Cloud Shinobi (Samui, Darui and Omoi) those that managed to survive the horrendous ordeal, Ao couldn't help but feel pity on them. It had been more than a decade since the last and bloody war had occurred, though Kumo and Kiri had nowhere near as much skirmishes as did Earth, Wind and Fire. Being a war veteran himself, he could only imagine the horrors inflicted on the battlefield. The sight of men slashing each others' throats, the smell of burning flesh, the screams of pain and anguish, it was all too horrifying.

"Get them to the infirmary first, these three need medical attention, it looks like chakra exhaustion based from the symptoms, tell the Mizukage that the messengers will be delayed."

The two escorts that Ao had saluted before heading towards the Mizukage's office.

Ao could only stare at the clear blue sky; it was as if it was mocking all of humanity below.

After checking of what little supplies Kumo had sent over for aid, Ao gave a deep sigh and turned back to the Mizukage's office, no doubt she wouldn't be feeling all too happy as to what is happening. The question was, what the hell is the Real Supreme Commander doing at a time like this!?

He wondered, now that two of the seven swordsmen of the mist's swords are missing, will Kiri still have its morale up by the time they commence this seemingly long campaign? He had hoped so, for if they were to fail, Ao couldn't even fathom the consequences of a madman's folly.

* * *

Earth Country:

It was hell on earth, the sudden appearance of the Yonbi no Saru (Four Tailed Monkey) over one village of the former wood country as screams of anguish and death littered the black stained sky, as smoke rose from the flames that the tailed beast spewed from its mouth. Blood spilled everywhere, as people began to cry in despair and panic.

The patrolling ninja unit from Iwa was forced to take action and try to evacuate the civilians along with stalling the bijuu before anymore casualties would be the result.

As the rampage of the four tailed beast continued, one Iwa Shinobi looked on in horror.

He had heard of Roushi's burden back then, as he did Han's. He was terrified, to say the least, that the man that he had known to be powerful had the call and beckon of this monster that rampaged throughout the village. The fear that was elicited from just being around the man was not much compared to this one. At least, Akazuchi had given Roushi the respect that he had deserved. He had served Iwa well, he gave his life to it, drove him to do the most challenging of jobs, chose to ignore the fears and the constant shunning to him. He lived in his missions, he BREATHED in them. Yet, with all that skill, with all that talent, with all that success, Roushi felt he NEVER succeeded and one day, just simply retired and vanished without a trace. His sad isolation and ultimately loneliness never disappeared. It shadowed him wherever he went, he never minded it, he never did a DAMN thing about it and it was tragic. Seeing the monster that now stood before him, Akazuchi couldn't help but see the inner rage and sadness that Roushi never displayed. He felt his eyes water for a moment, as drops of tears fell down watching the horror that unfolded in front of his very eyes. Even in death, Roushi's soul still didn't get the peace that it deserved.

The monstrous beast ravaged the earth and burned houses, livelihood, men, women and infants. It all seemed too cruel, too barbaric, and too inhuman. The very fact that Akatsuki had mentioned that they now control the bijuu made him realize just how evil humans can become. With a shaking voice that almost didn't come out, he muttered,

"My God… Was this the thing that Roushi-sempai kept in him all along?" Akazuchi trembled as he told the civilians to run away as fast as possible. The static in his ears brought him out of his overwhelming fear as he heard the voice of his squad mates.

"Akazuchi-taichou, we've cleared our station! We're going to the rendezvous point at the northern sector! Please finish your, HOLY SHIT- It's coming your way Taichou! Double time your evacuation efforts and get out of there, now!"

Akazuchi looked to his side as the four tailed beast wailed upon him. The giant, with his immense strength, had managed to catch a smashing fist aimed towards him. He parried the blow with both his arms away but was met with a punch when he was distracted. Akazuchi was sent flying from his position crashing through a house and through a grove of trees hundreds meters away before crashing into the ground.

"Akazuchi-taichou! Akazuchi-taichou! Come in! Please, respond!"

It was the last thing that he had heard before fading into the realms of unconsciousness.

* * *

Sasuke vs Kabuto:

"Chidori Nagashi (Chirping of a Thousand Birds Current)"

Lightning crackled from every which way of Sasuke's body, effectively sending the four humongous snakes in a fit of muscular spasms and fell down on the ground. Kabuto suddenly appeared under the rock that Sasuke stood on, hands glowing with blue with chakra as he was about to swipe Sasuke by the ankle. Sasuke barely dodged as he flexed his lower extremities and used a somersault backwards. As he was about to clasp his hands together for a seal and use a fire jutsu, his right hand suddenly grew numb.

With a surprise, Sasuke clasped it with his left hand and grimaced in pain. As he landed on the ground rough on his back, he rolled on the ground away from Kabuto as he slowly got back up

"So the poison has finally kicked in, huh?" Kabuto asked as he gave a vicious grin before cackling.

"When you hit me straight on with that Chidori of yours, it had allowed me to exert some of the poison caused by the white snake to fester on your skin, mixed with my blood; I've created an anesthetic effect on your arm through droplet to skin contact." Kabuto raised his hands to his side slowly as a set of shuriken were held in the interlacing of his fingers.

"Though still not as potent as Orochimaru-sama's I've created a desired effect that is surely to affect you if I manage to touch you with my blood on your chest." Kabuto walked towards Sasuke in a slow manner before unfurling it straight at the Uchiha.

Sasuke, with his left arm holding his Kusanagi, he deflected the shuriken thrown at him as a few went by whizzed by too close from his neck.

"Now, you can't use any close range jutsu, in fact, you can't use jutsu period! This makes your struggle all the more satisfying!" Kabuto leaned forward, dangling his tongue with a smile his hands once again glowed in blue chakra.

Kabuto instantly grew faster as the skins in his arms were slowly flaking away with scales slowly replacing a human's skin. Kabuto's grin grew further as he began to laugh and extended his left arm and was about to thrust his palm at Sasuke's chest. The Uchiha, surprised by the sudden increase in Kabuto's movements, swerved to his left, hitting the side of his chest. Sasuke coughed up blood as he felt the muscles near his diaphragm were severed. He began to breathe heavily and grew dizzy before kicking Kabuto straight at the chest sending the insane man flying back from the blow.

Kabuto had hit his back on a tree and went through it before crashing on the ground as dust clouds erupted.

"You're mistaken… Kabuto… I have one jutsu that could effectively kill you… Without worrying about getting close to you… And finishing you off…" Sasuke then heaved, cradling his left side to where Kabuto had hit. The pain was intense as it was dull; he felt his muscles spasm as his Sharingan shifted to the gift of his Mangekyou Sharingan.

"Amaterasu! (Illuminating Heaven)" Black flames ignited around the dust cloud as it began to consume everything in Sasuke's vision.

Fire raged forth, burning anything it stood on, he suddenly heard the screams of Kabuto from the smoke, as the fire consumed every fibre of his being.

His horrific anguish was heard all through out the forest, as the flames began spreading around, as Sasuke stood up, his legs shaking from the pain that was delivered to his chest, his forced breathing made him stumble slightly before kneeling.

"Did you think you've won?"

Sasuke eyes suddenly grew in surprise as he saw Kabuto; half of his shirt was burned while his right arm rested on Sasuke's back, Kabuto leaning on the side.

"That special Kawarimi that Orochimaru-sama created. I knew it as well. I wasn't his right hand man for nothing, Sasuke-kun."

Sasuke growled at Kabuto before swinging his left hand back at the Medic nin, Kabuto merely caught it with his free arm and said to Sasuke with a wicked smile, baring his teeth that were slowly turning to fangs.

"Neh, Sasuke-kun… I just want you to know that I've got a new poison I've been dying to try, won't you give the pleasure of being my first subject?"

Up towards Sasuke's teammates, Suigetsu immediately grabbed the repaired Kubikiri Houcho from his back as Juugo prepared his partial transformation.

"This is bad! Juugo!" Suigetsu mentioned, as they both jumped down towards Sasuke but not before being blocked by hordes of shinobi that dug themselves upwards from the ground.

Kabuto merely raised and wagged his index finger slowly from the arm that was using Sasuke as a bar table and said, "Ah, ah, ah, I can't let you two bother me with this experiment of mine."

Kabuto then bared his fangs and dug it deep into Sasuke's arm. Kabuto inwardly laughed as he let the poison dripping from his blood towards the Uchiha boy who grunted in pain.

With that done, Kabuto smirked and kicked Sasuke by the back, sending the boy tumbling away from him.

"That little poison just now, I created it specifically for you, Sasuke-kun. It's basically a poison that activates your cells to multiply rapidly, radically altering the mitotic reproduction of them! You know in other words, Sasuke-kun?"

Kabuto this time laughed, heartily, "A tumor will grow on one part of your body, to where and when, I don't know! But it will slowly eat away your life as time passes by. You should just-"

"Shut up, Kabuto." Sasuke interrupted as he gritted his teeth his Mangekyou Sharingan flaring to life once again, and his Amaterasu had hit Kabuto's face full force.

Kabuto let out an anguished cry as the black flames began to eat him whole. He struggled, as he frantically ran around like a headless chicken, cursing and shouting in agony. His horrified scream intensified as he fell into the ground, tossing and turning.

And with and prolonged cry, suddenly fell silent.

Sasuke slowly got up, feeling sure that this time; he had killed that insane man. Only to find out that Kabuto had suddenly burst from the black flames as his whole body was singed with the flames and kept regenerating even as the black fire continued to consume him.

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Kabuto cackled madly, diving right to Sasuke and delivering a powerful clothesline arm straight to Sasuke's face. The Uchiha, to weak to dodge, felt the sudden force of the attack and fell down to the hard ground, shattering the rock underneath him.

"HAHAHAHAHA!" Kabuto cackled on, mumbling incoherent words as he dashed towards Sasuke, this time, shouting only one word, **"DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE!"**

Sasuke had finally seen Kabuto snap from his last grip of reality. Sasuke merely forced himself to stand. There was only one more Mangekyou Technique he can do before finally passing out of exhaustion. As he forced himself to stand and ignoring the pain, Sasuke took a deep but excruciating breath, and his Mangekyou Sharingan flared to life once more.

"Susanoo!"

It was then that a red glow appeared from beneath Sasuke, as bone structure began to form showing the upper half of the body at twenty feet above, muscle then began to surround the bone structure, as skin and clothing surrounded it, its cloak and helmet then covered Susanoo in a Tengu like armour. Its right hand then separated, spouting forth a new one, as the shield from its left hand expanded.

Kabuto got up, still an unbalanced grin on his face as he dashed towards Sasuke in breakneck speed. Sasuke looked around, and saw the flames of Amaterasu on the side when he first used it on Kabuto. Sasuke's eye twitched as Kabuto then jumped, nearing his proximity.

Susanoo let out its war cry used its shield to deflect Kabuto away to his left.

Like fluid lightning, Susanoo's shield expanded in a V-shaped manner and a small almost invisible string connected the inverted V's two vectors.

With its chakra blade fully formed, the giant quickly placed it on top of the shield turned crossbow and aimed it at Kabuto.

Kabuto, landed on the ground, as the chakra of his former lord was now encompassing him completely, his consciousness now gone, he was turned into a person that had no conscious thought, and the insanity of this new person shook inside Kabuto's mind as it looked at ran straight towards the Susanoo, with its projectile now aimed at him. No longer recognizing rationality and no longer able to process a coherent thought, Kabuto kept dashing straight towards Sasuke.

TWANG!

The arrow had flown from its original point and smashed right into Kabuto's abdomen, tearing him and sending him along with the arrow towards the sea of black flames that danced into the humid summer sky.

This person screamed in pain, in agony, as he was now stuck from the arrow with the flames continuing to burn him, eating away at his flesh as he cursed and shouted and slowly tried to reach his hand out, before finally being dissolved and turned to ash from the everlasting flames of Amaterasu.

The corpses of the undead ninjas crumpled down as its wielder was effectively killed, Juugo, Suigetsu and Karin rushed over to Sasuke who was panting and fell down on the ground.

"Sasuke!"

Was all that the Uchiha heard, before being consumed by darkness, he looked on before he lost consciousness, he saw Karin rolling out her sleeve and Juugo forcefully making him bite Karin's arm.

* * *

Kirigakure:

The Mizukage had patiently waited for the medics to patch up the three exhausted shinobi from Kumo, the mere sight of their dishevelled and exhausted selves made the Mizukage postpone the meeting. It also brought a very terrifying idea that the federation now has a terrifying naval force if the islands of different nations that supported it were anything to go by.

Still, Konoha was showing no sign of action except for an intensified border patrol that aggression of Kusagakure to Takigakure was a blatant sign of an impending invasion force, yet the Hokage has refused to act in retaliation.

Even though the Hokage had not since acted, Terumi Mei grew impatient. She would not take this act so lightly, the Hokage might be idealistic, a fool in his position, young, passionate, handsome, and downright GENTLE to boot, but she was far more experienced in the line of politics. She would not let it be the reason for the fall of this alliance.

Mei sighed, before finally being met with one of hospital staff and now allowed her to visit the three messengers from Kumo.

Once she got inside, she sat on the lone chair, hands on her thighs and sat gracefully. The three shinobi inside tensed and yet remained quiet as they all tried to sit but Mei raised her hand and told them to not push themselves.

"I've heard all of your encounters from Ao. I'm very sorry that you had to experience such horrifying events unfold. But I trust that all your hard work was meant for nothing."

Omoi look down, remembering the night of that slaughter, the battle for the western sea was an utter disaster for their forces. He could still remember all those men that were either shot to death by an arrow, burned alive, or even drowned in the cold waters. It was his first time participating in war, and he couldn't help but feel sympathy now to all those war veterans that kept their grudges until their deaths.

Karui however, gripped the sheet of her blanket, mortification setting in, as she felt that she was absolutely useless in the conflict that occurred. She couldn't help Omoi and Samui as she was knocked unconscious by a blast impact.

Samui, although shaken from the event that occurred, willed herself to speak in her usual monotone and business oriented voice.

"Raikage-sama, Killer Ē, second-in-command of the Alliance, has proposed that the Five Kages establish a central command in Iron Country. He says that coordinating the forces would be easier. He proposes that a minimum of at least two hundred soldiers be sent there to serve as the main force of the alliance, from there, the five Kages are too spread their forces to different lands of the Federation along with a wide manhunt for members of Akatsuki."

"Only two hundred of my soldiers? It won't even be enough to at least dent an aggressive village like Kusa who has gained a considerable amount of territory and resources from its neighbouring country." The Mizukage replied, it made sense that moving an amassed and large army from one country to another would be too impractical, they needed to move fast. And in a country that is an Archipelago like theirs, it would be even more obvious, deploying ships for troop transportation and all.

"Yes, the Raikage believes it is enough when your forces meet up with Konoha's. He believes that from there, the Supreme Commander would take command, how you shall reach Iron Country, shall be decided by the supreme commander himself since he shall obtain the main bulk of the forces." Samui replied. The Mizukage looked thoughtful for a moment before considering their choices.

Now it was all clear, since Fire Country and Water Country were literal neighbors, it would work. With that, Mei nodded and got up from her seat, she turned her back from the three Kumo nin and said.

"Good job, all three of you. You deserve your rest. Thank you for giving me this kind of information. As requested, the army of Kiri shall be sailing east."

And with that, she had slowly closed the wooden door from their room. As she walked towards her office and readying messengers to be sent to Konoha, Mei couldn't help but feel anxious.

* * *

Konoha, two days later:

Naruto now stood on top of the Hokage tower, where he gave his speech to the people. Now, he was giving of another speech, this time to his soldiers. Soldiers that Tsunade had prepared and managed for half a year, warriors who are ready to fight for the cause of the Leaf, each of them stood erect as they faced their youngest leader yet. Naruto looked around and nodded, it was then that he began his speech.

"It's been six months, and we all know the signs of war have finally hit full circle this time."

Looking around, he walked sideways as his soldiers stood perfect, tiger looks all present.

"Akatsuki has managed to anchor itself well on to the minds of the people who weren't supposed to be involved in our fight."

"It's hard for me to put a tough act here in front of you. As this war is going against everything that I've stood for, against everything that I've ever fought for. But in front of the alliance, I was taught that even leaders have to make the most crucial of decisions that involve you all."

It was then that Izumo and Kotetsu had arrived with a large folded paper, Naruto had used a single Kage Bunshin and with it, grabbed the paper from the pair and unfurled it in front of his men, his loyal soldiers.

The paper revealed the contents inside, a map of the entire continent, with a large x-mark on the landmass that situated between Lightning country and Earth Country.

"In a five days worth of time, Water Country shall prepare and march their forces through Fire Country along with us, and we'll charge through River Country, effectively freeing Wind Country from the embargo. From there, we'll go straight north, to Iron Country, and from there, establish a central command. The Raikage, who formally represents as the head of the alliance publicly, has proposed that Iron Country be considered our base of operations. That's why I'm prepared to take only two hundred of our forces as will the Mizukage, no doubt we'll probably face resistance when we reach River Country, and this is mostly a very dangerous campaign. Tsunade has done well in making sure all of you stand prepared in my absence and I'm sorry for leaving on such short notice, but I needed to make sure that we at least stand a chance against the federation and Akatsuki. You've all heard it by now; Akatsuki has seven of the bijuu…"

To which, some of the men twitched slightly. Among them were survivors of the Kyuubi's rampage sixteen years ago, and although it was already past a decade, their memories could never forget the utter terror brought on by the bijuu. Naruto then raised his hand, rising to the level of his face, gesturing for his men to let him finish.

"That's why I'm going with this mission, to make sure that we can prevent a bijuu kill all our comrades and allies. I'm asking you now, are you prepared to fight for our cause? If you think you have to guts to take on such a dangerous operation, step forward, if you think not, then it's fine as well I'm not forcing you as I know some of you have families to take care of, wives, husbands, sons and daughters, you can protect our home. I'll only be taking two hundred men. So step forward if you want to go with me."

The gentle breeze of the wind blew forth atop the Hokage tower, ruffling the clothes of everyone atop. Silence befell on the outside. The mere tension was nerve wracking, as their leader stood on top of the tower, his feet on the rails with his arms crossed looking down below with a scowl on his face, as even he is preparing for the worst.

A few seconds passed by, and no sign of movement coming from any of the Leaf Shinobi, Tsunade, who was standing behind Naruto was about to shout to their men about how weak minded and spineless they were, until she saw someone highly unlikely to step forward.

Down below, Shikamaru looked up at the blonde Hokage standing on the rail, his hands in his pockets with a relaxed expression as he said, "I'm here to protect the King, but I can't do anything if I just stand around and watch our enemies do what they like. I'm volunteering, if for a sole fact that I don't want to drag this troublesome war to a longer time. If something can be done, then we just have to do it."

Naruto nodded, as Izumo began registering Shikamaru's name on the notepad he had brought earlier.

It was then that the next set of people stood on front, Kakashi and Yamato.

Kakashi said as his eyes stayed glued to his favourite book, with Yamato scratching his head.

Kakashi said as he flipped a page "Like Shikamaru said, if something can be done, then we just have to do it. No point on just being on the defensive. And by dragging this war longer, we are playing right into Madara's hands. I won't let the legacy of the Fourth Hokage and the very ideal of this village vanish like that."

Yamato nodded, "I'm probably a necessary member due to my abilities, I'm limited to what I can do but I'm sure it will be enough."

It was then that Gai literally jumped from his position and stood on front.

"I, Maito Gai the beautiful green beast, refuse to let the cool and hip Kakashi to be on this mission without me! I refuse to be left behind!"

"Yosh! Then I shall endeavour as well my sensei! I shall join you on your most perilous journey yet!" Lee had shouted, as he too jumped from his position

"KAH! Lee, your youthful spirit never ceases to burn brightly! Come! Let us now run five hundred laps around Konoha to celebrate our most youthful fire!" The master and student then began dashing away from the assembly with Tenten following them from behind shouting in an aggravated tone, "Hey wait! The Hokage isn't finished yet!"

Kiba and Akamaru then stepped forward as well, chuckling with the rest as they saw the antics of the master and student look-alike.

"I can't let Shikamaru be the only one acting cool in our age group; count me in, Hokage-sama."

Soon, one by one, they began to step forward, taking a leap of faith, placing their lives on the village that they want to protect.

Kotetsu and Izumo were now trying to keep up as the names of the men volunteering for this mission were now starting to pile up.

"Wait please! We need all of you form a single file! First come, first serve!"

However it only got worse, there were however, several shinobi that were left standing behind. Naruto looked at them from above, as he stood on the rail with his arms crossed and spoke in a stern but concise manner,

"Are you all sure about your decisions? This may be the last time that you would ever see your home again, are you all certain?"

It was a silent but a solid affirmative on their own, they knew it was a possibility, the chances were big. The federation had since been deploying ninjas left and right, and with River Country just a neighboring country by the east of Fire Country, and some minor countries below, it could surely turn out to something horrible.

Once it was done, he raised his hand slightly and Kotetsu instantly kneeling by his side as the blonde continued to watch the people sprawling below, he said to the chuunin, "Kotetsu, I want you to get me Aburame Shino, I have an important mission for him."

With that, Kotetsu bowed and left via Shunshin

For the next five days, Naruto had supervised and watched his village like a hawk, he looked around and saw the volunteers for this campaign pack all of their belongings; he even visited some of them. He walked in to their houses and spoke to their families not once, did he ever leave his hat off. One particular meeting that remained in his mind was that he had met with one child still studying in the academy.

"Hokage-sama!" A child, a mere child came toward him, with his shinobi father not far behind. Naruto saw the child and looked at him in admiration. Naruto couldn't help but give a small smile.

"Wow… You're even cooler when you're so up close!" Said the boy, Naruto grinned that in turn, made the child grin as well.

The father a bit stiff that the leader of their village was at his house, apologized to the Hokage, Naruto merely waving it off as if it wasn't a problem.

Naruto, then kneeled in front of the child and looked at the boy in the eye, "And what's your name, kid?"

"Sir, Hideaki, sir!" The child replied in a voice that resembled a soldier's complete with a mock salute.

Naruto chuckled and then ruffled the kid's head.

"Hold on there, little tiger, you're still aren't a ninja to be calling me sir like that, wait until you're a genin." Said the blonde and the boy asked,

"A-are you really going to war?" The child asked, Naruto stopped for a moment as he remained shocked for a second, his eyes widening a little but then returned with a melancholic smile.

"Yeah, I'm afraid I'm going to have to. Because I have to be there for people like your dad, I have to fight. It's because we have to keep you kids safe from those men. And because I want to prevent another tragedy of the past."

The child looked on in mere curiosity, looking above Naruto's head. The blonde looked up as well, he forgot he was wearing his hat; the blonde slowly removed the headwear and noticed that the boy looked to where his hat was. Smirking, Naruto placed the Hokage's hat on the boy's head.

The child looked above his head and supported it with his hands, adjusting it until he saw the face of the sixth Hokage.

"Looks good on you, Hideaki." Naruto saluted, Hideaki beamed with pride.

"Just you wait, Hokage-sama, one day I'll become just like you!"

Naruto smiled even further and ruffled the child's hair yet again.

"I'd rather that you don't, kid. If you want to be a good man, then you're just going to have to find a path that suits you."

With that, Naruto stood up and grabbed the hat from the boy who returned it with a little disappointment. Naruto turned to the father and said to patriarch, "He's a good kid. Makes me wish that I shouldn't have taken this job in the first place."

"Hokage-sama?" Asked the patriarch, Naruto merely shook his head.

"It's like what old man Sandaime was feeling; I wish I didn't have to do this." Looking up, Naruto saw a shooting star streak across the cold night sky.

"Then again, it's merely wishful thinking on my part. I can't back down now. Everyone's counting on me." Naruto then began to walk and wave at the father and son, "Make sure to say your goodbyes, it's going to be one long mission!"

The patriarch merely nodded.

Once Naruto made it to his office, he began his last night of paperwork before heading out. There were stacks of them, his clones had already managed to take care of some, while the others were now sorting and packing his gear into his scrolls. The blonde saw that the office he had looked more like a functional room in a bank, chaotic, impossible to follow, and messy.

The blonde sighed as he sat down in his seat behind the desk, he leaned back a little as the clone with the notepad began reminding of the remaining paperwork to be done.

Hours passed by, and as soon as he was finished, he saw that he was done ten minutes till' midnight. Looking around, he saw that his office was the only place that had a light on left from the repaired sections of Konoha. The blonde yawned, having dispelled his clones two hours prior when he was a few papers away.

As he got out of his seat, he stretched and placed his hat down on the desk, the symbol of Fire facing him.

"No need to wear this if I'm on the battlefield, it's better if I leave it here." Naruto mumbled.

With that, Naruto left the hat on the Hokage's desk, the light shining on the symbol of fire, gradually fades as he slowly closed the door.

Naruto, before he went home to rest and await the arrival of Kiri's armies, walked towards the top of the office. As the cold night breeze swept in Konoha that evening, Naruto looked up at the faces of the former Hokages that was sculpted on the mountain. Six months into office and his face still wasn't placed there, he wasn't surprised, the people had put the repairs of the village first rather than their monuments. In a sense, it relieved him, he sure as hell didn't want his face be plastered on the mountain with a frown like his predecessors did, maybe a Hokage flashing a toothy grin on that dreary looking monument would be better. It was his trademark after all.

He chuckled and placed his hands in his pockets. Somehow that would look great, if not _awesome_. It was different from the norm after all, and he was anything _but _normal.

Naruto then looked over at his village, the walls of Konoha seemed a little higher right now, simply because of the attack made by Pain, Konoha was a huge crater, and the repairs would likely take years before it could look as normal as it should be again. Add to that burden was this war. It really brought a sad expression to the blonde for a moment. Before finally deciding to jump down, Naruto reminded himself that even if he was gone, Konoha could still continue, it was the people after all, that made Konoha and not the Hokage.

As he made his way home, Naruto looked back at the office of the Hokage one more time, before finally turning his back and going home.

"Naruto-kun?"

Naruto turned back, and saw the face of the Hyuuga heiress, a look of concern written all over her face, as Naruto looked surprised to see Hinata still awake at this time. He remembered that she was not registered with the force about to march to River Country, the elders deemed it so, she was the heiress after all, as now, she was forced to stay in Konoha, while most of the Branch Members registered along with a few main house members to show that the Main House were no cowards.

Naruto scoffed at that, pompous bunch of old men, he supposed, but they did have their points.

"Shouldn't you be resting, Hinata? You've got a lot of stuff to do tomorrow." Naruto reminded her, Hinata shook her head.

"I-I couldn't sleep." Said the shy girl, as she looked on the ground, retaining the habit of twiddling her fingers.

"Oh, so that's why. Mind telling me why?" Asked Naruto, Hinata then, clenched her hands into fists and steeled her resolve. She looked at the blonde in the eye and said, "I've had a bad feeling for a while now. I thought a night out would do me good."

Naruto merely smiled, "Well, I've still got some time enough to kill, why don't we talk about it? There's a twenty-four hour shop that I know that sells some decent food."

Hinata, not one to turn down a time to spend with her desire of affection, quickly gave a nod. Naruto merely smiled.

Once they bought their food at the said store, both Naruto and Hinata sat at a nearby park bench. As Hinata opened her sandwich and slowly nibbled, Naruto was looking at his cup ramen as the steam entered in his nostrils.

Out of nowhere, Naruto was the first to speak, "The last time I was here, I was a crying wreck when I found out that the pervert died."

Hinata quickly noticed that it was Jiraiya that Naruto was talking about as the blonde leaned on forward, resting his elbows on his knees.

"Seeing what he did, I kind of felt angry at ero-sennin like that, running of to his own doom that he knew as well as baa-chan did." Naruto continued, shaking the cup ramen a little.

"But… Now, I kind of see why he did it. There was something he could do, and that he didn't miss the opportunity to do it." Naruto said as he now opened the plastic cup, revealing the hot noodles inside.

"He knew he was going to die, but he still did it. It was something that he WANTED to do, simply because he WANTED to protect me." Naruto had suddenly felt his ramen wasn't the best thing to have now.

"Now, I feel like I'm doing the same, I want to protect everyone, simply because I want to." Naruto smiled as he looked at Hinata. Hinata couldn't hide her melancholic smile. She simply said to Naruto, a few droplets falling from her eyes, her sandwich easily forgotten. It felt like she was never going to see Naruto again.

"Please, promise me Naruto-kun, that you'll live. That you'll come back here, to Konoha, to us. We don't want another leader give off a heroic death anymore, we just want him alive when he returns."

Hinata picked herself up and touched Naruto by the shoulders.

"Please, promise me… It's enough that you have to lose everything for everyone, don't lose your life as well! Don't talk about like you are going to die for us, it hurts… It hurts so much just you saying it!"

Naruto stopped dead in his tracks and dropped the ramen cup in his hand and looked down, he was speechless this time.

"Please keep your word that you'll live, don't break your promise!" She shouted at him, with all the voice she could muster. As Hinata continued to cry, Naruto only gave a small smile, a sincere one. And with words that seemed to have eased him, he said to Hinata with the biggest smile he could muster at that time,

"Thank you, Hinata. I promise, and I won't ever break it. It's my promise of a lifetime to you." He said. And with that, Naruto walked Hinata back to the manor of her home, as Naruto, prepared for his trip in the coming few hours.

The blonde arrived in his apartment and changed to his nightwear, sleeping on his bed before leaving for later in the morning.

Six in the morning:

Naruto had to slap his face to keep himself awake, he was sleepy still, but the tension that was mounting as he and his forces were waiting by the southern gate of Konoha for the Kiri nin soldiers and the Mizukage herself.

As the doors slowly opened, Naruto saw the Mizukage and her troops now walking in a fair distance, he motioned for his soldiers to march on towards the group from the Mizukage's side and lead them on.

Once they were close enough, the Hokage formally greeted her troops and said,

"I'm relieved that you made it here in one piece, Mizukage-dono." He said in a formal smile, the Mizukage smiled and bowed properly, "Likewise, Hokage-dono. I'm sure that your village can offer us the necessary supplies before we part?"

Naruto nodded, and raised his arm, motioning for the supply caravans to give to the Kiri Nin who had been travelling for three days towards Konoha.

Naruto then continued, "The trek would be three days from now, from here to the eastern border, through there, we'll be marching on the north-eastern side and strike from there, we're we'll be meeting with the forces from Wind as we push up. We'll have to make a detour at Iwa first though, Amegakure still has not sworn allegiance to any side, but will most likely stay neutral until the outcome of this initial assault."

"Hasn't Amegakure sworn allegiance to the alliance already?" Mei asked, Naruto shook his head,

"It's simply because Ame is stuck between to opposing sides on each direction, if we can pull off a victory at River Country, they would likely join us." Naruto informed the lady Kage and she nodded.

"Very well, then let's us march northeast, Hokage-dono. It is time to show the rest of the world that we are not to be trifled with." The Mizukage informed, Naruto merely nodded but as he turned away, he was hoping that this wouldn't turn into a blood bath. Consider talking with their leader first, he hoped it would work.

But just before he was about to set out, the words of his former master echoed into his ears.

'_Power drives a man insane, Naruto. They sink people into madness. If you think leaders are so pure hearted, then look no further on to your first C-rank mission in the form of Gato. Greed breeds to more greed, eventually, consuming even their soul. You'll understand when you meet a Daimyo one day, brat. You'll see just how inconsolable monsters humans can become.'_

To be continued…

* * *

Author's note: Nope, still not Naruhina, that scene was the only thing I could come up with the most likely person to say it, and the first person that came into my mind was Hinata. :P it's just in her character to do so now. I just can't think of anyone else since Sakura is still stuck in Ame (Her status is for the next chapter along with some others)

And… I think this thing won't reach the twenty chapter mark, again, just a fair warning.


	14. Hubris

The Hokage's Will

Chapter Fourteen: Hubris

* * *

The darkness of the night brought forth the silence and seemingly cold and anxious feelings of every man that were guarding the north eastern outpost of River Country. It was pitch black all over, with nothing but their lamps and the stars across the sky serving as their light. Faintly, they could hear the sounds of crickets chirping a few meters away from their posts. So much was the ominous blanket of silence, that the men positioned on the eastern front of the outposts were gripping kunais and swords every waking moment.

With but a gentle caress of the midnight breeze, the torches and lamps in each outposts were momentarily snuffed out.

It was then that death reared its ugly head.

Jumping out of the canopy of leaves, scores of shinobi took the momentary darkness as an opportunity to take down this outpost before any of them have the right mind to react accordingly, weaving throughout the silent chaos of what was occurring, slitting necks and performing bloodless killing manoeuvres left and right, ninjas began swarming through out the makeshift outpost like scavengers on a carcass, effectively cutting off the eyes and ears of one of the border stations of River Country.

Kiba, who had been part of the night raid, could faintly hear the muffled screams of agony coming from inside the compound. The stench of spilt blood littered his nose as he looked absolutely perturbed for a moment. He looked to his left and saw Yamato standing calmly with a hand on his elbow, dictating the small squadron in effectively and methodically destroying the structure of the compound. Yamato had assigned him to let him know if any person should escape the outpost.

"Outposts are the eyes and ears of any defending nation, they tell the signs of an impending invasion take them out and even a minor force can conquer a country." Yamato recalled on what Shikamaru had said. The boy really was good at strategic meetings, no wonder he was so valuable to Konoha shinobi.

It was then that Kiba's nose caught wind of a person, managing to run from the slaughterhouse so to speak. Kiba suddenly shifted his gaze to Yamato with a frown and the Jounin nodded.

"Alright, Kiba, you take point, you'll be taking a team of five shinobi with you. I don't care who they are, as long as you intercept any escaping shinobi from this vicinity, your limit distance is three kilometres. Move out." Yamato commanded, still focused on the carnage that was currently taking place, somehow, it felt absolutely normal for him, here, standing on a thick tree branch while the assault took place. Yamato mused, perhaps he was too used to the ANBU this much that the mere idea of doing these dirty jobs were nothing more but a daily occurrence during the days in the black ops.

Kiba had already taken five of his men, most likely, they were already beginning to do 'clean up' duties, or what the ANBU usually call them.

To his right, Yamato looked just in time to see Kakashi jump down, standing perfectly straight and saying to his kouhai, "With this, the five main fortresses here in River Country should be easy enough to take down."

Yamato could only nod, as the screams of bloody murder soon began to dissipate inside, as Kakashi began to speak, "I can't believe just how an obscure figure of legends past was able to gain the trust of the minor countries so easily."

"It would seem like Madara had a card dealt under his sleeve when he tried to negotiate on the summit in exchange for the remaining tailed beasts." Yamato mentioned as Kakashi shook his head.

"No it was more like a hasty decision on the part of the minor countries, that and they feared the power from the alliance. I wouldn't blame them though, throughout the history of shinobi the ones that suffered the most during war were the minor countries. Most of the fighting was done on grounds not of the five great nations. The result was countless minor countries either dissolved, or were absorbed into other countries."

"Then what do you think sempai, who is in the wrong on this war?" Yamato asked and Kakashi merely shook his head, as he answered, "It's tough to say, yes, the minor countries were fooled so easily like that, but they had a reason to fear the alliance. 'What if someone in the near future uses the power of the alliance in order to absorb more minor countries and take away their liberties that they had back then?' It's just one of the questions that go through the heads of each village's leader and each country's Daimyo. No matter how you see it, the alliance is a force to be reckoned with. Yes, we were forced to create this alliance but we had OUR reasons as well. We want to put a stop to Akatsuki, who now has seven of the nine bijuu, if it continues; virtually all life itself will be subjugated under Madara's will. We aren't really the ones to strike on the offensive here since this 'Federation' was the one that started the campaign to their side, but it seems we've been playing in right into his hands even if we now know his work throughout the past ten years or so."

To this, Yamato turned his head towards the Jounin, a look of utter disbelief as Kakashi continued, "You've realized it, haven't you Yamato? The alliance is moving at a sluggish pace, because the leader is young, he's still trying to grasp on what is happening all around, Naruto is Hokage, yes, he's the head of the alliance, yes, but to thrust a responsibility where he still can't get a grasp of is utterly impossible even for him. Instead, he focused the task on himself, to improve to a point where he can become a figure worth looking up to, a pillar of strength. That way, he can instead, intimidate other countries to stand down and make it a point to listen to him and to give us battlefield morale when he finally enters the warzone."

"I don't get it, sempai, what does Naruto's position and performance as a leader have anything to do with Madara's plans?" Yamato asked, Kakashi meanwhile, put a hand on his chin and crouched down, looking at the shinobi below who were scouring the area around the now silent outpost, cleaning up the piled corpses of friend and foe alike.

"I'm saying that Madara, who now has a firm grip on the federation, is silently pulling the strings using one form of event to another from his side. He can tell what the Federation should do, and we'll counteract in order to stop them. And as the battle continues to drag, we'll more than likely fall to his hands. His pushing his plans in a pace that the alliance complies fast, and with these turn of events, it could very well lead to Madara winning."

Yamato had stopped for a second, the pang of fear crept up its way to his spine, sending a tingling sensation as thoughts of the ancient Uchiha Patriarch lingered inside his head. With hesitation in his voice, the younger ANBU captain asked his sempai,

"Then… Is this war a hopeless effort to begin with?"

Kakashi replied, "Perhaps it is, perhaps it isn't. But with an elusive and cunning man like Madara, anything is possible."

It was then that Yamato had realized, just what Madara was capable of, he had stepped into the shadows and used Akatsuki as a means in collecting the bijuu, manipulated every country to go into his favour. How much trivial would it be, for Madara to use this war as his means to an end?

"Should we tell them about this, sempai?" Yamato asked looking concerned, Kakashi however shook his head.

"By now, most of the Kages may have realized this, that's why the remaining four are only awaiting the Supreme Commander's movements. If Naruto was the first to act, then the rest follow. It's his pivotal role. However, his inexperience and a part of his reluctance prevented him from doing that, something one of the remaining Kages would frown at, especially the Tsuchikage. The Mizukage could possibly overlook this as nothing more than a mistake on Naruto's part due to his new leadership role, but it won't be the same with Onoki or Killer A who have expressed their doubts earlier on." Kakashi commented, as he then looked up to the night sky, the light of the stars shown clearly for the night, as he saw the rising smoke coming from the cremated bodies of the dead.

If it were in another situation entirely, Kakashi and Yamato would be worried, panicked even, as the sign of smoke meant a siege and could possibly alert the remaining out posts in the country, but since most of the outposts had been taken care of earlier, the only thing left to do was to act fast before those fortresses begin to notice their movements.

Kakashi couldn't help but feel the pang of anxiety slowly inching on his spine, he could feel that there was something about to happen, and at worst it could probably lead to something horrible.

He could only wish for his ancestors to guide them, for it was now a war for every human alive.

* * *

River Country, Northern village:

Grey clouds blanketed the skies above; it was starting to rain once more, as the two former elderly advisers of Konoha were now on the run.

Mitokado Homura had felt that the survival of the last Uchiha, Sasuke, would one day come back and haunt them. That one day, the results of their past decisions would descend upon them like a judge delivering a sentence. Homura was a firm believer in Karmic retribution, and as an adviser to the former Hokages, Hiruzen and Tsunade, he knew that crucial decisions not left to be judged would be the result of their downfall.

The massacre was horrible, yes, but it was the only thing left to do to stop a guerrilla and ultimately prevent a war. The Uchiha clan were a clan of proud men, and proud men do not learn their place through leniency and diplomacy. It was a truth that was hard to deny, a fact that they can't escape since it is the nature of men.

The whole factor with the Uchiha was a mess. Everything started going downhill the night of the Kyuubi's assault. The Senju had lost the art in controlling the bijuu and the Uchiha deemed such a technique forbidden art, never to reach out into the light of day again. But then, why did the Kyuubi specifically attack Konoha? Was it to prove that they no longer had a means in controlling the beasts?

No, Homura thought of all the possibilities from simple ones that the force of nature had suddenly appeared out of nowhere, to more conspired and convoluted ones such as that the Kyuubi was obtained by the other villages and a jinchuuriki was created to be sent as a suicide mission to Konoha. But one thing was bothering him that day, the list of deceased Uchiha members in the reports handed out to him and Koharu.

Quite simply, there were none.

Homura began frowning at this, he had asked Koharu before when he confronted her about it, was it mere coincidence? No, it had to be something much bigger, something that the Uchiha were bitter about.

When it seemed that the elders had solved this mystery, they approached this to the Sandaime, who had been rattled at this sudden development, the Sandaime had asked for time. Time to investigate the matter further on, something that would give the Uchiha an alibi to ground such suspicions.

The matter didn't escape Danzo's ears, who had then suggested that ANBU patrols and monitors be conducted to the Uchiha clan, and that they be separated from the main villagers through a construction ruse. The Uchiha hadn't heard of this, they felt insulted that they had to be the ones being moved out of their homes into a new one.

But for the man within the shadows, a simple outside monitoring wasn't good enough. Danzo needed a mole inside the complex to check for anything even a hint of a coup. It was then that he discovered the young prodigy, Uchiha Itachi, who had by then, lost his teammates and Jounin instructor in the last war. Itachi was a chuunin back then, well on his way to rise within the ranks of the ANBU. He had his spies monitor the prodigious child the day he had received his promotion, and spared no stone unturned on Itachi's behaviour.

Needless to say, Itachi, who had by then began to earnestly believe in the philosophy of the Will of Fire, was the perfect tool to monitor the Uchiha Clan from the inside.

It was only a few years later that their fear became realized. A manifestation of their worst nightmare, the Uchiha Clan thought that they had enough of being isolated from the politics of Konoha and wanted a part of the power that the Senju Clan then possessed being the other half of the founding members of Konoha. And luckily enough, Itachi, who was by then a member of the elite ANBU squad, was chosen as the mole against Konoha's top brass, a move that delighted the leader of ROOT.

Through a series of deception after deception, the Uchiha never noticed that the Sandaime had already known it was about to happen.

And the rest as they say is history.

Homura adjusted his glasses, as he stood up and refilled his water bottle at a nearby stream, the old man leaned down and kneeled by the side of a pristine but clear creek, when he saw the streak of red, flowing along with the water's path. A tremendous amount of dread escaped from his very being, as he looked to the side, and saw the corpse of a beheaded Koharu whose blood was flowing from the neck, her body lying limp on the side of the small stream.

On alert, Homura stood up, prepared to take on the person that took out Koharu, it wasn't the time to mourn for the dead. He knew that much, but he couldn't help but feel the sadness escaping him as he thought of himself as the last member of Sarutobi Hiruzen's generation of Team Seven.

Homura grabbed a kunai from his sleeve as he heard rustles in the bushes, careful of taking out any foe. As Homura stood, a sudden tug stopped him from continuing on any further, slowly looking down, he saw a spear made of lightning, piercing through his chest from the back, the tip giving off a spark as the said chirped loudly like a thousand birds.

Blood escaped from the lips of the now dying man, as he turned around slowly, seeing the face of Uchiha Sasuke, whose eyes now flaring to life and turning into a Mangekyou Sharingan.

Homura coughed as Sasuke unceremoniously extracted the lightning blade from his chest and Homura crumpled in a bloody heap, looking up into the grey clouds and a Sasuke who was smiling wickedly at him.

"Burn in the depths of hell you bastard, along with that old woman."

Before he could close his eyes one final time, he could see the sky crackle in lightning as if the heavens themselves judged upon him the sins that he had obtained. But before he could do so, he looked at the apparent last Uchiha, who seemed paler than he remembered. He struggled to get his right hand up and put it on the blade, gripping it firmly as his fingers bled, with but a pull of the blade, Homura struck it closer, knowing his end was nigh.

With a smile, he said to the young man gone astray, "T-This is what you wanted, right? I know of what I did was wrong, but sometimes you need to tear your heart to achieve the greater good."

"Don't speak of such things to me when you forced my brother to kill MY family!" Sasuke screamed at Homura, faces mere inches apart, as blood dripped from the young Uchiha's lips.

"I-I don't ask for your forgiveness, Uchiha Sasuke… But please… Don't go after my village… They are ignorant of that event…"

Uchiha Sasuke merely said with an arrogant smirk, "Forgive? You think that I am letting you ask for forgiveness? What do you think of me? I am not a god to let out such a pushover attitude about what happened. I am not Buddha that seeks the path of enlightenment. I seek only the honour being returned to the members of my clan that you have mercilessly killed!"

Sasuke retracted the blade from Homura's chest and turned around, as the man fell forward in a bloody heap.

Sasuke looked back at Homura, his apathetic features returning.

"If it means that I have to kill every villager to get what I want… Then so be it. Be it Naruto or Madara…" Sharingan contorting to the shape of the Mangekyou, Sasuke stared at Homura with utter contempt.

"I will kill all of you." With that, Sasuke walked away.

Homura suddenly grew pale… This was a monster crafted by their hands, a demon sculpted from years of isolation, tragedy and good intentions gone awry. Was the curse of the Uchiha encompassing them all now? Homura slowly closed his eyes, a flash of lush green trees invading his darkening vision. He could see every tree standing tall except for a stump that stood before him, to the side laid a fallen tree, slowly wilting away and in his hand, was an axe.

'_Look at the forest and not the tree…' _Homura thought, who turned his back and saw countless stumps that had fallen trees all around.

'_But eventually, even cutting down trees would lead to another, and soon enough, even this forest will become a wasteland.'_

Homura could only bow his head and closed his eyes, the old man let go of his axe and began his trek. Alone was the man that walked in the deafening silence of death's vision.

'_Idealism is mere wishful thinking… But realism alone will never get you far either.'_

Homura looked up at the blinding light above, that not even a clear blue sky was visible, shielding his eyes from the light, Homura turned his head back down and saw small acorn seeds near his foot.

'_It's too late to plant trees anymore… There is nothing left for me to do but…' _Homura kneeled down and began digging.

'_Just one tree… Even that will be enough.'_

Sasuke dragged Kusanagi's blade on the ground, slowly walking his way towards his followers as his vision had gone hazy.

He had initially recovered due to Karin's healing ability earlier, taking out the two elders were a simple matter enough. The problem was the poison wasn't gone. He had been suffering from an insurmountable amount of dull pain throughout his body, as the poison was slowly eating away at every cell he had.

Karin, Suigetsu and Juugo ran towards the slumping Uchiha who now fell to the ground from the excruciating amount of pain. As droplets of rain began to pour from the darkening skies, Sasuke looked up and gritted his teeth from the pain.

'_I won't die! I'm not done yet… Not without killing Danzo first!' _

Sasuke slowly opened his mouth, every bit of muscular movement was unbearably painful, like countless needles being pricked in every part of his body, slowly inching its way through his skin. As his head was cradled from Juugo's arms, Sasuke could feel his jaw being clenched down before forcibly biting Karin's arm once again.

It had been like this for the past several days, with Sasuke now having to resort to Karin's healing abilities once a day, the damage that the poison was giving out was repaired temporarily before the poison could strike back hard with a vengeance. Since then, Sasuke and his group could only walk for a few hours a day before resting and letting Sasuke recover his breath, looking paler and paler as the days go by.

Just as the chakra was about to transfer to Sasuke, a small, spherical object began to contort from a small space in midair, as ripples became visible spinning around the dark circle before finally spitting out a familiar, orange masked man that now stood before him.

The hem of the black Akatsuki cloak danced as the small gust of wind vanished. Sasuke looked up on the masked face of Uchiha Madara. The Sharingan eye, frowning above him as lightning crackled from the heavens and rain started pouring.

"Hello Sasuke, has the pain from Kabuto's poison increased since last time you were bitten? How many days has it been, Three? Four?" Madara inquired, as the masked man pondered and walked closer to the Uchiha.

Sasuke looked startled at this revelation; there was no way Madara could have gained that kind of information suddenly! Unless, of course, the man had been tracking him through one of one of Madara's subordinates, it was highly probable.

Sasuke opened his mouth, his voice coarse and unintelligible. The Uchiha said in the midst of his pain, trying to sit upright and willing his voice go out of his mouth.

"Z…Zetsu…"

Madara's Sharingan eye twitched slightly and said, "Of course, you underestimate the power of my information network. Zetsu may not be the best fighter in my organization, but nonetheless he is vital in espionage missions."

Suigetsu had immediately drawn Kubikiri Houcho from his back and pointed it at Madara while threatening the ghost like man.

"What are you doing here, Madara? We've done our part, now leave us or we'll deal with you."

Juugo was about to get into his stance before the masked man walked calmly at Suigetsu, the blade pierced his chest but no blood had spurt, as the sword phased through him like he was nothing but air.

Madara chuckled inwardly as he said to the apprentice of Mist demon, "Best know your superior, **boy.**"

Suigetsu, startled at this, swung his Kubikiri Houcho to the side as effectively phasing the blade through Madara's chest before spinning and hoisting the unwieldy blade upwards. Madara simply stood there as the blade cleaved him in half, hitting the earth below and shattering it completely.

"Now, now, Suigetsu, I didn't come here to fight. If I did, I'd have prepared the materials I need to take all of you out besides; I'm reserving my energy for something later. I do however, have a deal with you."

Suigetsu frowned at this as he said, "The last time we struck a deal with you, it labelled us as international criminals… I won't buy anymore of your crap."

Madara raised his right hand, as if signalling Suigetsu to stop before saying, "Ah, but it isn't for you I'm making a deal with, Suigetsu, I'm making a deal with Sasuke."

Suigetsu stood confused at this and looked at the heaving Uchiha, as the said leader of Taka coughed out blood before standing up.

"What if I told you that your poison can be cured?"

Sasuke looked intrigued at this, and took all of his attention to Madara.

"What are you implying?" The younger Uchiha asked, not trusting the man one bit.

"There's a chance for you to recover from that poison in your veins, what Kabuto did was a poison not listed in Orochimaru's books, a new one, although he was a poison expert, he pales in comparison to Tsunade when it comes to medicine and poison." Madara continued, as he now walked to Sasuke and faced him eye to eye.

"Are you suggesting I go to Konoha and demand Tsunade to detoxify the poison within me?" Sasuke asked; Madara shook his head at the mere thought of sending Sasuke to Konoha. It was like sending a lamb to a slaughter, in his opinion.

"Good lord, no, Sasuke. You'd probably be stabbed by someone like Hatake Kakashi before making even a single step into their border in the condition you're in." Madara answered, as Sasuke continued his questioning.

"Then what's the purpose of bringing up Tsunade?" The younger Uchiha questioned, trailing of a list of names associated with the Slug Mistress until he had recalled one name. His eyes narrowed dangerously at Madara before asking, "You want me to confront Sakura? But she's in Konoha-"

"That's where you're wrong, Sasuke." Madara continued, as the masked man then said, "Sakura is in Ame, a former base that Akatsuki had when Pain was still alive."

"Why is she there?"

"She's trying to convince a former member, now ruler of Ame, to side with the five nations in this war as it serves as one of the most important routes between Iwa, Suna and Konoha." Madara mentioned.

Sasuke considered his remaining options. Kabuto's poison was acting faster than expected, it was painful and the said poison was fast making progress around his body. There were still no information on Danzo, and it might take months before they could ever gain one, the poison would most obviously have completed its work in a matter of days.

Sasuke dropped his guard for a second as Madara said to him, "What would you have me do?"

Madara smiled beneath his mask as the space around him began to fold in a spiral, slowly sucking in Hawk before finally saying to Sasuke, "Kill the former associate and retrieve her ring for me. Remember Sasuke, I did you a favour, the least you could do… Is fulfil mine, and I WILL know how you would do. I have Zetsu after all. If you can't fulfil your end of the bargain, I promise you that I will kill all of you."

With that, Taka was sucked in the small vacuum of contorted space as all of them vanished from the clearing.

* * *

River Country, three days into the campaign, 2 AM:

The Daimyo was restless, his country was on the verge of collapse. The mere fact that Konoha and Kiri set their sites on them was utterly terrible! Those blasted alliance forces had silently treaded into his territory like snakes in a meadow, eating away at the hapless soldiers he had like harmless rabbits! As if that weren't enough, the associate that guaranteed help would come was nowhere to be seen! He was surrounded with incompetent fools! The Daimyo paced around his room, yelling and cursing at his men as he did so.

"I think this is no time to be lashing out at your subordinates, your highness." Replied the voice that seemed muffled and covered.

The source of the voice then slowly popped up from the ground, as a green, jagged object that seemed to look like leaves began to open, its maw like appearance, and a creature, no a man in contrasting black and white colours became visible in his eyes.

Zetsu's yellow eyes stared at the plump Daimyo standing in front of him. That almost undignified gait, those beady and distrustful eyes, and that dark but maintained scowl, it all made Zetsu inwardly smiled. Pompous elite that seemed to be incompetent himself, judging from his management issues of his own army. He must be a new Daimyo judging by the looks of it, meddling in the affairs of the military when he didn't even know which place to what manoeuvre.

"Where is Madara! Where is that imbecile that had promised to aid us in this war! Isn't it good that he had showed his demonstration of one insignificant village! Yet he can't even show up at the most crucial of time! No wonder you lost all of your members! You are all fools to believe in a misshapen man like him!" Replied the Daimyo

Zetsu frowned at this, "I suggest withholding that tongue of yours, _Daimyo-sama_."

"**Unless you want me to consume you from head to toe, then I suggest that you keep quiet." **Continued the other half

The pompous leader turned his head at this and said, "You? What can a single buffoon like you do to a Daimyo such as me? Don't you understand your place, filthy urchin? You are a mere insect compared to us!"

"**You should be careful with those words, Daimyo-sama… They will be your utter undoing."**

Zetsu was about to step forward when he felt the chakra presence of his leader suddenly appear to his side. The spiral contortion of time and space grew larger as a single man had appeared from the dark space.

The man had a spiral orange mask that had its right side open. His Sharingan eye becoming visible from the mask as he walked calmly towards the daimyo, he spoke in a much mannered voice as possible.

"Stand down, Zetsu. Leaders will be leaders no matter how you look at it." The masked man informed.

Zetsu seemed to relent at this but then stood back down instead, what would he gain from killing this pompous asshole? Probably a full stomach, but somehow, he thought it would bring some sort of cramps to his belly if he did that.

"Finally, you're here! Where is your promise! My country is suffering because of those power mongering fools from Fire and Water and you are dawdling around like the useless organization it was supposed to be! They have just taken over three of my most heavily armed fortresses up north and are inching- no, making tracks towards MY capitol!"

Madara simply shrugged off the insult and said in a matter of fact tone, "I was simply doing some business earlier that needed to be taken care of."

The daimyo held up his nose in indignation and said, "I. Don't. Care. I want those blasted shinobi out of my country as soon as possible, sacrifice some of my men if need be! I want them out!"

Madara seemed to scowl underneath his mask. Dealing with this pompous feudal lord was a pain, not only he had to bear the man's tongue lashing, he had to control his killing intent as well. No matter, soon enough he wouldn't have to hear from this incompetent lout ever again.

Madara's visible Sharingan constricted, as the three comas on the red iris slowly began spinning.

"I have a suggestion to make, Daimyo-sama." Madara cut in, the Daimyo didn't even want to let him speak.

"Don't interrupt when I am talking, simpleton!"

Madara's visible eye twitched, as he continued, "I have the perfect strategy to counter the force sent by the Alliance. It will bolster our allies and surely deliver a victory towards the federation."

To this, the plump leader raised his eyebrow and asked, "And what do you have in mind, Madara?"

"Do not worry, Daimyo-sama. Rest assured by the time the forces of the alliance are visible near the walls of this city, they are as good as defeated for they have no means of controlling our most powerful arsenal, only a means to seal them away. And even then, the rituals for such a task would be monumental even for the one tailed beast." With that Madara turned his back on the outraged leader. His Sharingan eye twitching to a scowl as Zetsu followed him suit.

Once they were out of hearing range of the said leader, Zetsu began to speak to the leader.

"Do you really want to go down with what you said, Tobi? I thought you'd be more reluctant about it."

Madara shook his head as both of them exited the premises of the feudal lord.

"On the contrary Zetsu, I said I would bring victory to the federation, I'll bring it. I just didn't say River Country would be the one to push them back."

Zetsu eyed Madara carefully and then smirked.

"**You're going to burn this village to the ground aren't you?"**

"That is harsh Zetsu." Madara commented before continuing, "I am merely playing down on my interest, and my interest lies with the minor countries bringing down the stabilizers of power and cause enough chaos to let them view me as their saviour, their god. With that in mind, River Country will be the lamb that will serve as the sacrifice to my altar, to bolster the hatred of the federation, full force."

The glow of the full moon illuminated behind Madara as the man jumped to the tallest building balancing himself with one foot as he stared on to the open fields outside of the city, glaring intently on the coming of the opposing army.

Outside:

The dead of the night did not favour them this time, the light of the full moon was in full effect. Its silvery glow seemed to prevent them in doing this deed. As the walls of the capitol came into full view, so did a large plume of smoke erupting from the center.

Then a faint but humming sound resonated all around the area. As bug like wings appeared from the blanket of smog, flapping at an incredible rate, it opened its maw and drooled on the ground below it, letting of a river of saliva that began to dissolve anything that it falls on. The giant blue bag let out a sick but deathly screech as it began collecting chakra just above its mouth. The chakra was dark and malignant, as small orbs of dark energy began swirling at the small but unstable orb.

As it completed its task, the telltale signs of destruction came forth from two of the armies of the five greatest nations. Naruto, realizing that what this tailed beast was about to do, shouted in fear of his men's lives.

"SPREAD AROUND, THAT'S A DEVASTATING ATTACK HE'S ABOUT TO DO! DON'T TRY TO GET IN ITS SIGHTS!"

As the order for them to scatter came to pass, every ninja began to scramble all around the view of the beast, trying earnestly to hide from its wrathful ball of death.

The said beast stretched its wings back further as its upper body moved leaned forward, its horn aiming to the outer wall of the capitol. In quick succession of events, the malicious ball of chakra, shrank to a miniscule amount for a beast and gave a mighty roar.

**BOOM!**

The blast of the energy ball sent shockwaves all around the beast and its projectile, the force of the mighty wind destroyed much of anything that stood in its path, tearing houses, buildings, walls into debris and the castle of the Daimyo crumbling into dust as it fell to the ground in shambles. It charged straight to the mountain that the alliance's armies had been scurrying off from. In the final few moments of some of the ninjas that now stood in front of the attack, only but a blinding light was the visible all throughout the mountain.

In a tremendous and resounding explosion, the mountain that once stood on the destructive path of the chakra blast's path, shattered as chunks of earth scattered ever which way.

As the sight of the deaths that now entered in his vision, Naruto paled, and then turned around and growled in righteous fury at the beast that was beginning to once again charge its unfathomable attack. Naruto had to hurry, or another strike like that would deal a very mortal blow to their forces.

Naruto stood for a few seconds, getting the feel of the Natural Energy flowing around him; red rings began tinting his eyelids as his iris changed from oceanic blue to regal yellow.

With speed beyond of a human or shinobi, Naruto made his way towards the beast, the said creature who had began collecting chakra into its mouth, flapped its six wings as its seven hanged loosely as down to the ground, it flapped, higher and higher, as it now reached the dark clouds above, as if finally reaching the ceiling of the world, lightning danced as the chakra orb constricted and shake with its unstable nature absorbing the bolts of electricity all around its surrounding area. To the remaining of the survivors of the attack inside the capitol, they could only gaze as the said monster reared its neck back let out a tremendous roar.

"STOOOOOOOOOOP!" Naruto yelled with all of his might, as he dashed closer and closer to the site.

The beast shot its attack straight to the ground it stood before. As the plant man from Akatsuki runs away to a safe distance, Naruto struggles to get close to the site as the catastrophe of the projectile enters his mind. He remembered quite well how Yamato pointed to the devastation of his attacks back then against Orochimaru, it was the size of a small village that was destroyed by his fourth tailed state.

As he got close to the walls, the ball of intense and malicious chakra crashed into the ground, giving off a stronger explosion that covered the capitol like a dome of white light. The impact of the said assault threw another powerful shockwave all around, as Naruto was suddenly pushed back by the sheer force of the impact of the attack.

He could only look on as he was being flung back like a ricochet, crashing to a cliff face and being embedded to it. Naruto watched in mortification and horror as the capitol of river country, became no more but a crater.

Naruto looked up into the sky, as the beast became no more but a plume of smoke, no trace remained left of Madara in now the former capitol of River Country.

"Damn you, Madara… Damn you!" Naruto cursed in his anger, as he watched the smouldering ground that now lay before him. He looked up into the sky, and cursed the heavens with all his might.

* * *

Ame:

At the outskirts of the city, two people were now ready to leave the city of eternal rain. The pinkette that now stood in front of the new leader of Ame looked solemn for a minute, sympathy begetting her as well as sadness. To which Konan immediately noticed.

"What's done is done. Sakura-san, we cannot undo the past… Your sympathy only gives me more grief, I merely gave you the hope of saving the ties that you shared with your most trusted friends, you have learned well and I hope that you apply what you have learned." Konan gave a serene smile, to which Sakura could only look up. To her side was Shino, who had been given instructions to escort their ambassador to Ame back to the frontlines and manage the medic corps. Sakura had wondered however, that it took Shino more days to get to Ame than she did considering the time span that Shino gave her in his _very _detailed report.

As Sakura was about to talk, a hand raised stopped her from doing so, turning to the bug user, Shino merely shifted his gaze to his right and said.

"There is someone who has suddenly appeared in my net of insects. It is best that we prepare ourselves if there is a possible engagement that might occur."

Konan looked vigilant to this new predicament as she turned her eyes towards where Shino was looking. The silent boy had a lot of body language to tell off. Speaking only when needed, the boy often used gestures as his words to mention anything of note.

Shino stayed sharp as bugs now slowly crawled their way down to his arms and some crawled up to his face.

Sakura looked sharp, her hands already covered by her gloves, as the three of them were preparing themselves for the worst.

As they heard the sound of shoes slowly walking on wet ground, they turned to look at the source of the noise.

Sakura stood surprised at the site before her, it didn't seem to make sense that the person she was meant to chase down chose to come to her instead! It was a turn of incredible luck (depending on which, she had no idea if it was good or bad) for her, as the one that she had sought after for the past three years, the person that Naruto wanted to bring back, the person that she wanted, more than anything, to save and show him what family was like again.

There stood in front of her, was Uchiha Sasuke, who looked paler the last time she saw him, as traces of blood fell from his lips, she couldn't help but wonder why.

"Sakura…" Sasuke stated, as he unsheathed his blade, Kusanagi was ready to fire up with electric charges.

"I want you to heal me." Was his simple demand, his sword glowing with the current of lightning surging at the blade, walking towards their group in calm manner. He headed towards Konan slowly, his sword crackled as the bolts of lightning danced to the edge of his blade.

With but a simple dash, Sasuke was about to strike.

Only to be blocked by Sakura, whose hands glowed in blue chakra and punching the ground to destroy Sasuke's charge.

"Oukashou (Cherry Blossom Impact)!" Sakura shouted

The ground beneath her shattered like glass, splinting up from the force as fissures began to form all around the two former allies.

Sasuke jumped back, from the sudden devastation that Sakura had dealt, he looked sharply towards his former teammate as she readjusted her gloves.

"The next time, I'm aiming to your face, Sasuke-kun." She said in monotone, this time completely serious. No more would she fear of harming Sasuke to the inch of death, no more would she be scared of his well being if she beats him. Like Naruto, she would do this even if it meant beating the sense down into Sasuke's head.

"Your vigilantism ends now." She continued, Sasuke frowned, before looking at the other female on the opposite side.

Suigetsu grinned; he hefted Kubikiri Houcho to his shoulder and said, "Well now, I thought this whole trip would be boring as hell, I guess I was wrong. Maybe you do have some form of fighting ability, Pinky."

Sakura was about to retort until Shino spoke.

"It would be unwise of you to downplay our fighting capabilities this early."

Bugs started to fly around the hood wearing shinobi, as the insects began spinning faster and faster like a whirlwind around him. The bug boy continued, "After all, even the most unassuming can have devastating results."

With that, Konan's body began to form cracks as she turned to paper.

"Do not for once; let your guard down…" The former Akatsuki member said, countless papers slowly folding to origami shaped shuriken.

"Or you'll be killed instantly." Sakura mentioned as she squatted down, her right hand cuffed into a fist still on the floor.

Karin looked at the papers spinning in the air as she felt the older woman's chakra in every paper she had unleashed. It felt baffling as her chakra seemed to have gone everywhere, forcing her technique to haywire. So much was the presence that she felt she couldn't tell how they would defeat this person who had divided her chakra to every paper she had seen in this area.

Suigetsu otherwise, grinned, it may not be the first time they had faced a Kage Level Shinobi here on their own, but it always involved a quirky technique that would force them to adapt to the situation. The prodigy of Zabuza looked over to his left and saw Juugo slowly letting a the cursed seal have a partial transformation on him, as his right eye soon changed with the sclera turning to a jet black colour and the iris turning to bright yellow.

"I guess we have no choice then… We'll have to kill the two people around the pink haired girl then we'll force her to heal Sasuke." Said the giant of a man; his bloodlust slowly seeping out like a stream.

Shino now dissolved from the storm of insects that surrounded him, indicating his initiative to attack.

"I wouldn't be too sure if I were you." Said the bug boy; his face now fully dissolving from their view.

Suigetsu suddenly cursed at this and shouted, "Crap! Don't let any of his bugs get near you or you're dead!"

"I would prefer if you would call them insects." Said Shino, reappearing behind Suigetsu who had swung his gigantic blade at the Aburame, Suigetsu cursed as his blade had little resistance as it passed through Shino.

Juugo was about to help but he suddenly jumped back when he saw a paper shuriken narrowly hitting him in the face.

He looked up to see the winged form of Konan, her right arm outstretched as the paper shuriken turned back to its owner and reforming on her palm.

Sasuke looked up to their target; it would seem a Katon Jutsu would suffice for her as her body would be far too flammable. The Uchiha was about to do his sequence of handseals until he stopped and saw Sakura slowly walking towards him as she adjusted her gloves.

"I'm your opponent, Sasuke-kun."

Sasuke raised his eyebrow in sheer curiosity. How could Sakura be able to keep up with him? He had remembered the girl almost dying by his hand when they first met again back in Orochimaru's base. As he contemplated as to HOW Sakura would exactly fight him, Sasuke's vision suddenly turned blurry, as he was watching Sakura turning into a haze and back again, he felt the pain of the poison slowly making their way towards his brain. It was slowly crippling him down, it meant he couldn't be as fast as he used to.

He gripped Kusanagi tightly, as his hand shook at the grip, it was difficult to just even stand there and waiting for Sakura to attack. But it would not make a difference or so he thought, as to him, Sakura would always remain as the weakest link in their team, _their _team seven.

An earth shattering punch suddenly shook the ground as fissures suddenly formed and gave way to the earth below as the force of the attack shattered the ground instantly.

Sasuke, who was surprised by this sudden moved, instead of jumping back, he jumped up, only to see Sakura above, her skin now as black as charcoal, right fist primed to punch him in the face.

As her shadow loomed on Sasuke's vision, the Uchiha's eyes widened as the chakra that Sakura had been building up in her right hand had enough potential to kill him there.

**SMASH!

* * *

**

River Country, capitol ruins:

It was already morning; the deafening silence in the skies of the once enchanted city seemed to be on every person's mind as they saw the destruction that was caused by a bijuu.

By now, Suna's reinforcements had arrived, in the form of the Kazekage and his required battalions to join in the forces of the alliance. He too, could see the carnage that took place in the village before it being obliterated of the map.

As the Kazekage walked through the rubble, he could see his friend trying desperately to find any survivor of the attack.

His hands dug through the rubble, as it bled profusely from the cuts it had received trying hard to get stone, metal and wood out of the way.

The blonde was kneeling as he did so, forcing his tired and bloody hands to find any sign of life, until he stopped as he saw a cold hand of a child, still holding a doll. He looked absolutely catatonic for a few second as his body remained rigid at the sight that stood before him.

He slowly grit his teeth, his rage was gripping his head like a vice, as he forced himself to stand.

"I'm going to kill him… I'LL KILL MADARA!" Naruto shouted as he punched the rock beneath him, shattering the stone to small pieces.

"I'll stop him!" Naruto punched another rock

"I'll find him!" Another rock

"I'm not going to let another sacrifice happen in his name!" Said the blonde; punching the stone shattering from the force of his attack.

"Naruto…"

Gaara reached for his shoulder as the blonde looked at his friend, his eyes were close to tears, he said,

"I couldn't do a damn thing! I didn't expect this kind of thing from Madara! I couldn't see what he did to this village! I couldn't save them!"

To him, this wasn't a victory; it was too hollow and too horrifying to be considered one. What Gaara didn't get though, was why.

Why did Madara do it? Why would he want to destroy this village if it meant that it was one of his most valuable allies? What would he gain by simply destroying this village?

As questions littered in Gaara's mind, he couldn't help but feel perturbed at this turn of events. Gaara looked over to the appearance of the rising sun; his eyes squinted for a moment as dread began to well up inside him.

He could only pray for their success. As now, it looked like things are about to get much worse.

* * *

To be Continued…

Author's rant:

Okay, where do I start?

First, campaign season occurred during February to April, and while I was looking for jobs, my dad volunteered me to help my uncle in his bid for councillor on our town. It was tough and I went home almost always 11pm or even 2am then I wake up at 7am to do more medical missions with my uncle and go home very late, so you can figure out the stress I've been through lately.

Second, I suffered from Tonsillitis with my tonsils almost bursting with pus so I got hospitalized. You can blame it on my smoking problem which I just quit over a month ago and the fact that I've been stressed out. Since then I haven't been smoking and I'm still clean right now.

Lastly, I suffered a tremendous amount of writer's block. I had to take a vacation for three days on my own and before I knew it, most of the stuff I planned on this chapter got canned.

Thank you for being patient (or not) in waiting for this chapter, and I'm reminding all of you that this would be one of the last few chapters for this story, I'll skip over the details and tell all of you that this would be as far as I stretch it.

Read and Review.


	15. Inverse

The Hokage's Will

Chapter Fifteen: Inverse

* * *

**SMASH!**

Sasuke was fortunate to have escaped with a hair's breath. That punch that Sakura did shattered the log he replaced himself with. He looked around, seeing Sakura chase after him like a rabid blood hound. Sasuke cursed as he backpedalled as fast as he can, as he then jumped to the grove that surrounded the metropolis like village of Ame, Sasuke used his arm and grabbed a strong branch, he swung to his right feeling his weight almost tearing his arm off, he let go off the branch as he landed on a sturdy trunk. Just as he saw Sakura's back exposed, he lit up his Chidori for a second before feeling the effects of Kabuto's poison encroaching his system. Sasuke coughed blood as the sound of chirping of his jutsu was immediately noticed.

Sakura, for her part, flipped in mid air and landed on another sturdy trunk, her knees bent as her weight shifted downwards before giving a tremendous leap at Sasuke.

Sasuke immediately saw this with his Sharingan, as the pinkette dashed towards him, her hand glowing in blue chakra as she was about to deliver a devastating punch. Inwardly cursing, Sasuke ran up the trunk and jumped to another one, as the tree that he stood on before, shattered from the immense power that Sakura had used.

'_This is like the time when I faced Gaara in his demon form… She's putting the weight lower for a higher output in velocity in using Shunshin no Jutsu, if I hadn't dodge in time, I would've seriously died. It's a good thing that the start up of that technique is slow compared to my speed__ and too linear that it's too predictable.' _As Sakura stood on another branch, this time on the same level with Sasuke, the Uchiha had one thought in mind,

'_I can't underestimate her.' _

"Sasuke-kun… Back then when you said, 'Thank you', what did you truly mean when you said that?" Sakura asked, as she squatted down and started pumping chakra to her legs.

Sasuke only replied, "It's not for you to know."

Sakura closed her eyes for a moment and jumped back, she descended to the ground below, escaping Sasuke's vision, he had noticed it though, Sakura was avoiding full on eye contact. He inwardly grinned, the perfect technique to disable a person happened to be a technique Sakura wanted to avoid, it seemed that only an Uchiha or a perfect jinchuuriki was able to counter such a powerful Genjutsu.

Silence fell in the grove, as the rustles in the leaves swayed from the wind that it brought. Sasuke remained unmoving, trying to feel Sakura with her chakra. He tried to concentrate as he forced himself to feel something that would indicate a movement of the girl. It was then that he heard a powerful rustle; Sasuke looked to his back as leaves fell from the ground, another rustle and Sasuke turned around, the fallen leaves dancing as they descend to the ground. His Sharingan started looking around, feeling the rustle was Sakura's movement, it was like she was moving to his blindsides like a ricochet jumping and changing directions every trunk that would ever get in her way.

It was then that Sakura had appeared above, her skin as black as ash once again, as she descended on Sasuke her right leg extending upward, about to strike him with a powerful axe kick.

"Tsutenkyaku (Painful Sky Leg)!"

It was then that Sasuke jumped out of the way as Sakura's leg tore through the tree that he stood on before finally crashing through the ground with a thunderous boom.

Seeing his chance, Sasuke leaped into the dust and smoke that spread from where Sakura stood, his Sharingan fully active, he shielded his eyes after drawing Kusanagi from its scabbard and landed on the ground, Sakura immediately saw Sasuke descend upon her like a hawk, his right hand holding his chokuto as it tried to slash Sakura down and disable her. To her credit, she instinctively reacted and leaned to her right, evading the slash and the tip touching her cheek, but Sasuke did not draw blood, the sword and Sakura's ash coloured skin gave a resounding high pitched sound as if a sword clashed with a sword, the tip of the blade gave a tiny spark as the sword went past Sakura. Immediately seeing her chance, Sakura cocked her right fist back, and without proper collection of chakra for an instant attack, she smashed her iron enforced fist to his gut. Sasuke felt the sudden pain electrifying him, as he coughed out blood before being sent flying from the blow in a powerful force, colliding with several trees before being entrenched on the ground and halting before a large stone.

Sasuke tried to get up but could feel the pain of his body instantly coming back full force. It was hard to even breathe!

He cradled his side as he felt a sudden pain from his right side. From what he could feel, some of his ribs were shattered from that last attack, if he hadn't stepped a back a little that time, he would have met that punch full force.

It suddenly occurred to him, that Sakura had him in dead to rights. She could literally kill him if she got close enough and exploited his weakness now. As long as she was out of his sights, it was futile. As long as she doesn't make any eye contact with him it was useless and it was even harder just to capture her. It was a hard situation indeed.

Sasuke stood up, there was only one jutsu to stop her attack, based from how powerful her defence was, Sasuke guessed that it was a Doton based Ninjutsu. It was hard just trying to pump chakra around his body, hell he can't properly form Susanoo right now, so this was his best shot. The Uchiha planted Kusanagi on the ground and crossed his arms in an X like position; he closed his eyes and concentrated. The flow of chakra seemed restricted; he could feel it as any way of exerting himself would aggravate the damage done by Kabuto's poison. He concentrated, as Sakura had suddenly tried to capitalize at the exact moment.

Sakura dashed at Sasuke, her hand now glowing with blue energy as she made her way towards the Uchiha. She wouldn't go for a killing blow, no, she had realized just how valuable Sasuke's knowledge on Madara would be, Konan had said that although she was exposed to the plans of Akatsuki and most of their bases, Madara didn't share any information about himself, probably due to the fact that he didn't trust any more of his members as did Nagato and Itachi. They had differing goals, each one of them, and Madara remained the most mysterious, he came and go as he pleased, and went to places that he wouldn't mention. Madara was careful, cautious, cunning, and had more secrets than anyone could possibly ever have. If Madara had exposed Sasuke to one of his strategic locations, it might probably be where his main base of operations reside, something that Sasuke may have information about.

Dashing towards Sasuke with his back turned, Sakura prepared for a brutal punch on Sasuke's back, this would paralyze Sasuke for good. It had been bothering her that Sasuke wasn't able to whip out jutsu after jutsu, when she attacked. As a single Chidori could have probably done the job, but nonetheless she had to take advantage of what she has. Sasuke had requested, no, demanded that he be relieved from his sickness or whatever seems to be bothering him. She COULD possibly do it. But the problem was that Sasuke has to answer to a lot of questions first.

As Sakura dashed towards the Uchiha at her best speed, Sasuke had outstretched his hands sideways as Sasuke spread his legs to have a wider base and shouting forcefully with gritted teeth.

"Chidori Nagashi! (Chirping of One Thousand Birds Current)"

Lightning danced and sparked its way all around Sasuke, piercing Sakura's Domu (Earth Spear) as it literally began to eat the iron like skin that Sakura had adapted earlier.

Sakura screamed in pain as she fell to the ground, sliding and entrenching herself a little as she went straight to Sasuke's position. Her jutsu slowly dispelling, the effect of the earth spear was slowly crumbling away.

Sasuke stood over his former teammate as he was gasping for air; just controlling his chakra was getting even more difficult.

"Now Sakura, you will heal me…"

As Sasuke leaned down and tried to grab the girl, Sakura suddenly sprang up and nailed Sasuke in the cheek with a strong punch.

It was a surprise move, his Sharingan deactivated; Sasuke had thought he had finally stopped this uphill battle. But when Sakura had suddenly sprung up like that, he had been totally unprepared for that punch straight to his face.

The force of the blow flapped the opposite cheek that Sakura had hit as Sasuke was thrown back by the immense strength. Sasuke tumbled across the muddy ground, before hitting a large rock behind him.

Sakura approached Sasuke in apathy as she had a kunai ready just in case.

Sakura looked at Sasuke's unconscious form that seemed unmoving as of now, just in case, Sakura had activated her chakra scalpel and began cutting off tendons so that Sasuke can't move.

With that, she carried the Uchiha on her shoulders as she began to trek her way back to Ame, intent on getting the answers that they need and finally putting a stop to this war.

Suigetsu vs. Shino:

Suigetsu thought he had chosen the wrong opponent to pick a fight, or rather; the bug boy had apparently prevented him from facing the former Akatsuki member. He was the weak point of the woman. But unfortunately a Konoha Ninja, who can suck chakra with tiny bugs, had happened to prevent him from doing so.

Did Madara not calculate the fact that the woman would have another escort? If so, that masked bastard better try to come up with a good excuse next time they see him. Because there was no way in hell would he ever let that madman use them like he did back at the summit ever again.

As Suigetsu was immediately surrounded with insects, the apprentice of Momochi Zabuza liquefied himself crawling away from the swarm of bugs that tried to stick close to him, as he got out; Suigetsu smirked to himself as he drew Kubikiri Houcho once again. He looked at the bug boy who was merely walking towards him with his hands in his pocket, seemingly calm in the whole fight.

It was then that Suigetsu felt himself slightly drained. He noticed that his jutsu earlier used more chakra than it needed to! He inwardly cursed as Shino held out his right index finger and an insect landed rather gently on the tip of the nail.

"Give up, the fact that my swarm has surrounded you should be an indication of the advantage that I posses and the handicap that you wield."

Suigetsu smirked, "Heh, even if you try to consume my chakra, it would be too slow. I'm made of water as such, your bugs would have a hard time consuming that energy, are you sure it was wise to pick me as an opponent?"

It was then that mist had started to form around them, as Suigetsu's smirk turned into a vicious, toothy smile. Shino's visible eyebrow rose to a certain point but remained quiet.

"I know that insects can detect other insects through the release of subtle aromas like pheromones. But if I had enough moisture to dull those senses, I wonder if they would ever coordinate an attack like you do."

It was then that the fog surrounding the two fighters got thicker and thicker as the toothy boy said, "Ninpo: Kirigakure no Jutsu (Ninja art: Hidden Mist technique)"

Suigetsu then added under the veil of the fog, "I'm not the student of the acclaimed Momochi Zabuza for nothing. And from what I remember of Zabuza, he was proficient in this style."

"I prefer a much more direct approach but I can't afford that to someone like you." Suigetsu mentioned, the temperature around seemed to have decreased somewhat, as Shino kept his guard up, he could feel the temperature around him decrease to an even colder one.

From the outside, one would wonder how much fog has gathered around the small grove near a water source just outside the metropolis of Ame.

Inside, Shino remained calm as he stepped to the right and heard a sword being swung down almost cleaving him in two. Shino forcefully stepped on the blunt part of the gigantic blade with his left foot, as he outstretched his right hand and punched the one who attacked his back earlier, a splash was heard through out the fight as Shino was about to yank Kubikiri Houcho away from Suigetsu's grasp.

"H-How?" Suigetsu asked before pulling his sword against Shino's hand away, jumping back. Shino looked eerily calm as he stepped forth in Suigetsu's direction.

"How did you know I would be coming from that direction? I've made no sound, no indication that I would be coming at you from there." Suigetsu asked in a serious tone.

"No person is capable of producing no sound. I may have not heard you, but the vibrations that you caused are loud enough for insects to detect like a door being slammed open." Shino answered for him, it was then Suigetsu noticed that the bugs that flew in the air were minimal compared earlier. The ground however, seemed littered seemed to have the said bugs crawling around.

"Insects have the ability to sense enough vibrations on the ground. They flee whenever they feel that the ground near them is stepped. I took advantage of that trait they have and simply have some of them stay there to detect where you come from, with how they move and how they communicate, I immediately sense it and do the most appropriate action."

Suigetsu's scowl turned into a smile again as he hefted the giant blade on his shoulders again.

"Well, damn it. It looks like I'm going to have to put more effort in to this than I thought."

Suigetsu then began to liquefy, splashing on the ground as the atmosphere around the two combatants began to condense, the puddle that was Suigetsu began separating like cells initiating Mitosis as it began to separate into six puddles. The puddles then began to rise up from the ground forming a humanoid figure. All of them formed the figure of the shark like boy holding the heavy sword on their shoulders. All of them gave confident smirks as they all said in unison, "Suiton: Mizu Bunshin no jutsu (Water Release: Water Clone technique)."

It was then that the clones began initiating the stance of the Muon Satsujin Jutsu (the art of silent killing). Each of them silently treading around the heavily dense fog, Shino looked down and saw many of his insects scramble every which way. Spreading around and causing enough chaos that he barely registered in time that two clones of the swordsman had appeared on both his sides. One had the blade aimed high horizontally to his neck while the other was leaning forward below, about to cut his legs off.

Shino was quick to react, as he spun in the middle of the two, letting both clones go past him as the two said clones stared on in surprise at the bug man. Shino landed perfectly between the two as he gathered some of his insects from the ground to around his hands and raised it in an arc, completely tossing them in a wave towards the two clones.

A small disruption of the chakra produced in them and they quickly dispelled and cascaded on the ground, turning into puddles.

The Aburame looked on the ground and monitored his insects erratically going about. He could not detect which was which. Suigetsu's steps were precise, and used his colony's sensitivity to vibrations at its fullest. Shino had to acknowledge one fact about the man he was fighting.

He was a master assassin.

This time, three identical images of Suigetsu headed towards him, they were all in striking distance already as they leapt towards Shino, aiming for his chest, legs and neck. They came at him from his back, and two from his opposite sides. In an immediate rush of seals, Shino quickly replaced himself with a log just before the three enormous blades could slice him to pieces.

The log splintered and scattered as the three scowled at the sudden change. They were sure they had him.

Shino had suddenly appeared from the side of one clone, giving the said clone with one smack on his right forearm, quickly returning as a puddle on the ground. Another Shino had then appeared from below one clone and quickly dispelled revealing a huge swarm as it surrounded the second Suigetsu clone and consuming the chakra.

The final clone had the back of its head grabbed as the insects crawled from Shino's arm, quickly dispelling it.

"I admit that I am impressed at your skill in using the infamous Muon Satsujin Jutsu, barely a few members of our ANBU have this level of skill." Shino commented, trying to force out a reply from Suigetsu, who was silent throughout the whole ordeal.

Shino merely stood there, waiting for the next set of movements that his insects might show. His insects remained in stasis, causing Shino inwardly perturbed.

His opponent could have gone for Konan right about now and those clones could have only served as a distraction. He knew that a paper master like Konan had weakness in the form of liquid. It was probably the reason why his bugs were on stasis.

'_I have you now...' _

Thought the person, who was now high above Shino, he wasn't making a sound. He was as silent as the gentle wind and as cold as ice, sword held sideways, he strikes down Shino from his shoulder blade, down to his stomach. Suigetsu landed with one knee on the ground. He didn't look back at his victim; he never needed to, for he had expected blood to spill from that.

Something definitely spilled, but it wasn't the sound of a shower that he had expected, instead, tendrils of bugs had escaped from the jacket, revealing the boy wearing sunglasses on his long sleeve undershirt. The swarm of insects at his side holding what seemed to be his hoodie that was sliced cleanly in two.

Suigetsu didn't feel himself move, as the bugs started to consume him, eating away his chakra. His expression of shock was present all over, it was the third time in his whole life that he was surprised and the first two involved the two monstrous jinchuuriki of Konoha and Kumo.

"H-How did you…?" Suigetsu was interrupted by Shino in a matter of fact voice.

"Know that you were going to attack me there? It seems that you have forgotten one off the primary principles of Muon Satsujin." Shino continued.

Suigetsu began to shake as the bugs began started to consume his chakra, contemplating on the one most important principle in Muon Satsujin Jutsu.

'Always attack from the back.' It was the most important rule in the style that Zabuza taught him, to perform this means to use the exposed back of the opponent as the target, to walk silently and to tread fast; it was the matter of execution that made Zabuza such a master of it.

"It seems that you caught on. Indeed, Muon Satsujin is a force to be reckoned with. It's so silent that you will never even realize that you already died. The skill of the practitioner of such an art should not be taken lightly; even a jinchuuriki could fall given the right preparation and situation."

Suigetsu's body was slowly and literally being covered by insects, crawling on his skin and seeping away at his energy as Shino continued.

"However, its primary principle is also its main weakness, thus making it predictable. Therefore, a solution on this was to come up with a plan to lure the original user out; 'A deception to counter a deception', as Shikamaru and Hokage-sama put it."

With that, Suigetsu's body became fully covered with insects as the Aburame continued, "Do not fret, and rest assured that I will be sparing you alive. Your information is valuable in ending such a pointless war."

Suigetsu couldn't feel anything at that moment, as it all eventually turned black.

Juugo vs Konan:

Pity.

It was all that Konan felt as she saw the monster that was the tall orange haired man going on about, trashing wildly at her as she evaded every blow delivered against her. The man before her was a berserker, a mindless fighter drawn on the acts of violence and bloodlust, but earlier, he seemed tranquil, awkward. The man didn't seem like a person of violence, it was more like he hated to show such brutal force, he hated fighting. It reminded her about Nagato so much except for this particular mood swing.

"Get back here!" The monster roared, his body contorting and shape shifting once more, as his back began to grow holes with chakra seemingly being concentrated in them.

Konan dispersed herself in a sea of paper cranes, surrounding Juugo as he blasted all around with beams of chakra to every which way. Konan looked perturbed, this wasn't the man that she had noticed earlier, the man earlier was soft-spoken, always concerned and did not look anyone in the eye.

He was easily intimidated.

This person was different; he was more psychopathic, insane, and bloodthirsty. The markings that he showed around his face before definitely indicated one of Orochimaru's experiments, more precisely, the cursed seal. Konan could only do some kind of sympathy for the man. Perhaps the seal hasn't truly disappeared yet?

No, that would not be the case; the seal was tied with Orochimaru's life force. Even a small sliver of life was enough to maintain the seal; then what on earth is this person?

Juugo gave another unbalanced grin as his hands morphed to another appendage that Konan immediately noticed.

According to Sasori (whose spy was the double agent Kabuto), those branded with the cursed seal are given a set beast like transformation that gives them a special ability in accordance to said transformation. Not only that, there was also an added text that there may have been some minor psychological influence given by the seal. So how is it that this person in front of her could shift from one form to another and how is it that the seal affects his psyche so much?

Juugo's hands finally finished transforming once again, as Konan landed behind him, forming herself from the countless paper cranes that she had transformed into earlier. Her hand outstretched, paper began compressing into a thin spear, just before her palm it floated like it was made for flight, chakra condensed and formed thin as each paper condensed into one shape, the shape of a perfect javelin spear.

"It is a pity that your whole existence was bent on violence and urges you have no control over. Do not worry, for I shall end your suffering."

The last of the papers then stuck itself at the near tip, the perfectly cone shape like spear completed, she aimed it at Juugo whose left hand turned into a talon like appendage.

Konan instantly fired the spear made of paper, as the said object left gale forces strong enough to cause a sonic boom in its wake, entrenching the ground below as the spear travelled at an enormous speed. Juugo, clearly seeing the danger he was in, had let the full power of the cursed seal take him over quickly, and used his other arm to create a shield and block the spear with his said arm. The spear managed to reach to the shield, skidding Juugo back as his feet were entrenching the ground that he stood on, dirt and rubble picked up and scattered as Juugo tried his best in stopping the spear made of paper as the said paper began dispersing, one page at a time.

Juugo tried to put his weight forward with his talon like right arm grasping his left as if trying to lighten the strain from the force of the impact. Thirty meters later, the strain on his left arm was too much and felt the limit of his human endurance shatter, sending him flying and tumbling on the ground.

As Juugo tried to get up, he looked over to his left arm; it was limp and bleeding all over.

He looked over at the former member of Akatsuki walking towards him as paper started to collect around her once again, dancing around and began folding, turning to small windmills. For the first time, Juugo could feel dread as Konan was walking over towards him with no trace of emotion.

It rotated and spun around Konan, as it soon began spinning faster and faster, before the said objects flew towards him like spinning shuriken.

"Kaminari Shuriken (Paper Shuriken)" Konan mentioned simply, with no hint of hesitation.

Juugo shielded himself with his only enabled arm as he felt the sting of each blade going past through him or embedding itself at him.

"GAAAAHHH!" Juugo writhed in agony as he fell on the ground with a hard plop. Konan stared at the boy in front of her, the orange hair was reminding her of Yahiko, but Yahiko was never soft-spoken, that was Nagato and both weren't psychopaths like this one.

Juugo looked up at the woman, as she gave him a frown, Juugo could feel the pity in her eyes as she stared at him from above.

Konan raised her hand and paper seemed to form into the spear that she had done earlier, Juugo looked absolutely scared, no wonder the woman was a member of Akatsuki, she was absolutely terrifying in battle, almost the same like Sasuke was, and that blonde Hokage who had lodged him to the wall.

"Juugo!" Shouted a red head, Konan eyed her with a frown of her own, before deflecting a set of shuriken with her spear made of paper.

Juugo suddenly took his chance, tackling Konan to the ground as she was taken by surprise. But it all seemed for naught as Konan scattered and began latching on his skin like leeches sucking out the life out of him.

As Konan reformed from her state, she looked at the area where that red head had appeared from, she was nowhere in sight.

Konan held her hand towards the paper wrapped Juugo, finding his kneeling and struggling form. She was about to do the deed. Until she closed her eyes and stopped. Even though it was the wrong thing to do, the most illogical thing to do, to her, right now, her love of her friends meant more than reason.

"No, this isn't what Nagato believed in… This isn't how he would have done it after meeting Naruto."

Juugo struggled for a moment before falling unconscious.

Madara's request for Konan's assassination had failed.

* * *

Unknown Location:

Madara sat on a chair, purely out of necessity. He was shaking earlier, it had been a long time since he had controlled a bijuu and just as he remembered, it was taxing, winding, and absolutely horrendous.

The strain of controlling the bijuu increases with each increase of tails. He grasped the arms of his chairs as he was bracing for the intense pain about to come. He looked to his right and saw the countless collections of Sharingan placed in the jars. In a sick and twisted sense of mementos, the man that had left his clan out of contempt stored the Sharingan of his dead family members in jars, he looked at them with mild fascination and said, "Just a few more steps and all is complete…"

He then removed his mask and placed it in front of his table, he grasped his face as his right Sharingan came to life once more.

"Everything will end… And all will be with me."

* * *

Alliance camp, Iron Country:

Five of the six leaders of the alliance had now met in complete battle attires. All of them wore their hats to signify their position as Kage. They sat down on a round table all of them looked battle weary since two nights ago. The Kiri-Konoha forces had managed to meet up with their forces three days ago and had to move

Ryuutenbi no Onoki eyed the young leader of Konoha in front of him, to say the least he was disappointed. After months into this alliance, the Hokage indeed was inexperienced in dealing troops, perhaps that fool Mifune had been relying too much in emotion. He scowled at the Hokage who looked absolutely sullen all throughout the campaigns. Onoki shook his head, he was right, he was still a child. Not to mention, the rumours of his incognito were putting a dent into the morale of the troops.

"Do you realize the gravity of our situation, Hokage-dono?" He asked in a stern and angered manner, Naruto didn't respond, how could he? The Tsuchikage had a point.

"You almost cost us a war with the whole world's fate at stake! Do you think it was easy enough to have control over an alliance such as ours?" The Tsuchikage bellowed. Naruto replied in anger, "Then what was I supposed to do? Do I just let an army guard me while we need most of our soldiers to the frontlines? Would I feel safe knowing that the greatest threat to humanity is out there that can bypass most of our men and take me away in an instant? If we want to win this war, then we need to do everything we can! That includes all of us, be it mentally or physically!"

"Don't think that you're the only one who has been doing their best here! You are a Kage; you sit at the back as you watch your soldiers fight and die for you and your village! The least you could have done is to have given them the morale that they need the most! Do you not trust your own men?" Onoki roared.

Naruto was taken back by this, as Gaara voiced his own opinion, "The threat of Madara does indeed put us in a precarious position, now that he has the federation under his thumb. I've had doubts reasoning that most of the minor countries aren't aware just how important people like us were and how dangerous Akatsuki was, it was a matter of feeding the other villages with information that we lacked, quite simply, we lost in a war of propaganda for the minor countries, something that we had not been prepared for so early on. We were one step too late against Madara. All of us are to blame for this not just the commander."

"The issue here is not the minor countries, Kazekage-dono! The issue here is that Hokage-dono has left his post to finalize his skills as a shinobi without ever being there for most of us, without ever informing us! Isn't that one form of neglect?" Asked Onoki, to this the Mizukage looked down and nodded her head.

"It is indeed true that abandoning your post on such a crucial time is an offense worthy of imprisonment. I admit even I had my doubts that Hokage-dono was clearly not the best choice to become the supreme commander. He isn't ready for a responsibility that would entail being a newly appointed Kage. It takes years to master the craft of leadership. The choice was foolish for all of us in the first place; we had relied on our emotion too much out of desperation."

It was then that the Raikage had spoken, "I agree that we had met the wrong choice in the matter in this. It seems the idea that Konoha was the only village that still possessed their host back then had blinded us from the fact that their Kage is still a young man. I agree that we had made a terrible mistake in this. I'm sorry Hokage-dono, you are not meant to be the supreme commander as of now. As the second-in-command, I will be the one to lead where you left off. It is only right."

Onoki had raised his hand to make a point, "That is acceptable, but what about Hokage-dono?"

Mifune looked at the sullen leader and closed his eyes as he started to take a deep breath, "After this is over, we will determine his punishment. But seeing as how the battle of River Country went down and the crucial information he has given us, we should give leniency on the decision."

Gaara looked at the Hokage and closed his eyes as well for a moment before finally saying, "The host for the Eight Tails, Killer B, is he in safe custody as of now?"

The Raikage nodded, as the Mizukage's visible eyebrow raised, what is the Kazekage planning?

"I just asked if the eight tails would be participating in this war." Gaara eyed the blonde with concern. He already had an idea on how to deal with this, if he played his cards right, then Naruto would be safe and alive.

"No, I've decided to place him to an island that is completely safe for him, I know that place as we trained there from time to time when we were younger. He's about to depart in three days time, so we need an escort there to see him off." Killer Ē said. Gaara's eye twitched as Naruto was listening intently, to his side; Shikamaru had kept quiet about the whole ordeal but realized that Onoki had a point. There was nothing that Naruto could do now.

"Very well, we shall prepare now for the next meeting and encounter." The Raikage mentioned.

As soon as they all got out of the tent, most of the Jounin outside stared as each of the Kages were frowning; none of them were pleased about how things were turning out. And it seemed like dissent was flowing already.

Once Naruto arrived on his tent, he sat down on his bed and looked down.

'_Am I really, the saviour of this world?' _Naruto thought looking down on his hands; he closed them as his hands shook.

Doubt was beginning to enter his mind; did he do the right thing? Did he really not trust his men?

Had he doomed the whole world?

Naruto punched his bed slightly out of frustration; this couldn't have happened if he had just acted earlier on! But no, it wasn't just that, he realized how selfish of him that the alliance had almost lost! He bit his lower lip so tightly that it drew blood.

He had failed, he had failed his sensei, his father, his mother and everyone in Konoha, he had failed them all. Was this the extent of his will of fire?

He held his face with his palms and held the sides of his head in frustration.

In the end, he was a failure, through and through.

"Hokage-sama." The figure said as Naruto looked up, he saw Kakashi enter into the tent.

"Kakashi-sensei, what's wrong?" Naruto asked curiously as Kakashi took a deep breath and spoke to him, "Kazekage-sama has told me to come and get you to talk in his tent. It seemed urgent as he himself approached me along with Shikamaru. You have to hear what he has to say."

Naruto nodded, as he sat up and exited his own tent; he went towards the Suna army's side of the encampment. There, many of the folks that recognized him bowed in immediate respect and some even waved with a smile. Naruto could only wave back with a smile of his own.

Once he had reached the big tent with the character of wind engraved on top, Naruto entered inside immediately. Gaara was sitting on the table and waited patiently for the blonde.

"Naruto, I want to discuss with you about what happened earlier." Gaara started as Naruto immediately sat down.

"What happened earlier was a mistake in all of us. The old Tsuchikage, though he was better than before, is still pompous and too realistic. He has made mistakes just like you did, but he had never once admitted to them until recently, do you get where I'm coming from?" Gaara asked, Naruto nodded, as the red head continued, "I know it is wrong of me to take away your freedom of choice as to participate in this war, but remember that we are the only barrier that is preventing Madara to get his hands on you, and we have to rely on the most competent of people to get the job done. Though you might not like it, I feel it is the only way to keep you alive and away from Madara's grasp."

"But my responsibilities here…"

"… Will only lead to your capture." Gaara interrupted him. As he then said to the blonde, "With things the way they are now, we need a unified commanding center; I think you can do it, but the doubts set upon by the Tsuchikage and the Raikage had been great. If this continues, then before we might even know it, we would lose the war."

Naruto stood up at this, "H-How am I supposed to protect them then? How am I supposed to be safe from my enemy if I can't do anything?"

"Naruto, it is true that what you did was very reckless, you left your office but at least you had to do it because of one thing. I've realized it now more than ever, that what you did was both of foolishness and brilliance." Gaara looked to his side and grabbed a scroll.

"This scroll was a report on what happened days before your inauguration. I can understand the need of you to finally take control of what it was that hindered your progress. Even if you cannot participate in war, your rage would have most likely taken over and we would have a problem worse than Madara, Kyuubi's inevitable return if you didn't do it." Gaara said, Naruto nodded and said, "That's right, I needed to do it, I gave in to my rage when Danzo mentioned that he had my mother killed. Even right now, I'm still angry at that guy."

"It is such a shame that it had come to this, in the end, even if the world is at stake, politics still shapes this world." Gaara sighed. Naruto couldn't help but agree.

As both young leaders discussed that night, Naruto realized more and more on what he needed to do.

'_But in order to do it, I'll need the help of the eight tails' host.' _Naruto thought as he exited the tent when both were done for the night.

As he entered his tent, Naruto placed the quadrilateral hat before his chair with an amused look and said with a melancholic smile. He had decided.

The next morning:

"You're WHAT?" Killer Ē asked, utterly confused as to how the young leader spoke.

"You said you wanted a form of punishment, right? Well then, accept my proposal. I'm willing to take the fall if the alliance fails." Naruto mentioned in a smirk.

Onoki shook his head out of disbelief, "But to relinquish your title aside from being sent to the island with Bee-san this early on? What on earth is going on in your mind, Hokage-dono?"

"It's simple. We'll only bicker if this continues on; we can't have a fight like this over past mistakes. This is all our faults, but I'm willing to take the blame for this by agreeing to the punishment, I'm willing to relinquish my title as the Hokage with a three year exile from my homeland if it meant winning this war and stopping you all from committing senseless mistakes like I did. I've sent a team of messengers already for my predecessor and she'll be here in three days time, in the meantime, I will participate in most of the plans already laid out. This is my solution to the problem I've caused. I have to pay for the price itself since I was the one in command of our troops and I was completely caught off guard at being the supreme commander."

Naruto hoped that this would work, for it was the only thing that would free him from all of this crap, it was the only thing that would finally set him loose and finish things once and for all. His prankster self has never been so alive right now! This would be his biggest prank yet, and this time, Madara and the world would be his target. And by hell, he'll kick that son of bitch's ass even if it meant he would lose his title. It was high time to get this done.

Gaara had only given a simple nod, and with a small smile; he asked Naruto, "What would you gain if you sacrifice your title as Hokage? Wasn't it your dream to become one?"

Naruto gave Gaara a thumb up and said, "There's no denying that, and right now, I'm happy that I've finally experienced what a leader is like! A leader…"

Naruto looked up for once and continued, he seemed resigned to his faith, "… Is ready to sacrifice everything if it meant his people would be safe."

Gaara looked like he would none of it, but in reality, the blonde was right. In order to be a great leader, one must first relinquish what he can if it meant his people would thrive, even if it was everything he knew and loved.

Terumi Mei could only look on in shock as she said, "I've never seen a man act so foolish yet wise at the same time."

Gaara gave a small smile, "That is the Uzumaki Naruto that I once knew."

For the first time in a long while, Naruto gave a wide, toothy grin.

* * *

Ame, Three days later:

It had been three days since he was captured, three days since he was healed and right now, he was locked up in a prison where his hands were bound with seals preventing him to use Ninjutsu to escape, to his front, Suigetsu was laid with the same kind of treatment as he did the only added feature to this however, was the mouth restraints that Suigetsu had, how the guards feed the guy was out of Sasuke's question, he didn't want to know and would probably leave it at that.

A loud opening of the metal bars were heard as Sakura and Konan had soon arrived in his cell, Sasuke looked down to where his hands were bound as his former teammate asked him, "Sasuke-kun… You probably know that you guys are now criminals in the eyes of the world."

Sasuke remained quiet, he didn't care, he just wanted to fulfil his desire for revenge and restore honour to his slain clan.

"I could care less if I'm a criminal or a saint. My target is Danzo, and I want him dead." Sasuke replied, Sakura scowled at this, Konan stopped her and shook her head.

"Uchiha-san, I'm a former member of Akatsuki, and I know why Madara wants me dead. But if I must ask, if you want to roam this earth free and in search of Danzo, I can do that, all I ask is the location of where you headed out before you came here."

Sasuke looked at the blue haired woman and then asked, "What's it to you?"

"I want to end this senseless war that Nagato and Yahiko has hated. I want it to stop. I don't want Ame to be destroyed again. If you know what it means to honour the memory of your loved ones, then grant my request."

Sasuke remained silent for a moment. Before he said, "Madara would kill me and my team if that were to happen."

This time, it was Sakura's turn to talk, "We can give you your freedom if you tell us where Madara took you after the summit."

But Sasuke, somehow, found a way to smirk, "Really? Then do tell me how are you planning to do that? Only the Kages can give clemency to a criminal, and last time I've noticed, you aren't Naruto."

"Who said anything about clemency?" Sakura asked, Konan seemed to have caught on, should they let this dangerous man get away so easily? Sakura then added, "On the condition that you don't harm any citizen here or continue on with the assassination, we can let you off scot free. That is, if you cooperate, if not, then we can associate you as Madara's accomplice."

Sasuke was listening intently, at this, his smirk soon changed into a frown as he said to Sakura, "I could care less at that senile old fool. However if you do grant our freedom then I will do all your stipulations. Just don't say anything about why I'm doing this."

With that, Uchiha Sasuke spoke, and he spoke about EVERYTHING that had happened since the summit.

Outside Ame:

Karin had stayed hidden all through out the three days that Sasuke and the others were captured. She couldn't do anything but watch as each of her teammates were taken down and captured. She was lucky to have gotten away.

Karin knew the implications if she get caught. Ame was still on lock down, the reason why Konoha shinobi had managed to enter here was because of the Hokage and permission from the current leader of the village.

As she looked around, she felt the familiar chakra of someone following them. It had been a while since she thought about this, it was like this familiar person was always tailing her, and always keeping an eye on her. The question was however, why?

That familiar presence tailing her was underground, she felt this person had already been trailing them for sometime, she thought at first that Sasuke was its target, but it turned out it was her.

As she sat down for a moment, she soon realized.

Zetsu was tailing her because of the information that she knew. And if by any moment she lets her guard down and tells Sasuke about what happened after he lost consciousness during the summit, then that would mean she would die.

Karin had already kept the secret of the Uchiha Clan months ago after the summit. She didn't say anything to Sasuke, because she knew that Sasuke was their only chance of defeating such powerful S-Class missing Nin. If she had told him back then, Sasuke and their team would have most likely died from his compulsiveness. Karin didn't want that, she knew she had to keep her mouth shut. But it seemed Madara was willing to keep Sasuke under his control.

As soon as those thoughts hit her home, Karin realized that she needed to set Taka free as soon as possible if they want to live.

* * *

To be continued…

Surprised by the sudden change? The chapter title above indicates that everything that is happening right now will change here. Well, most of the materials I've done were already set anyway and I've been planning this out. I am now only giving a set up towards the concluding chapters which are to say that its 2-3 chapters left.

And before giving off flames on what is happening now, I'm reminding you all that these remaining chapters will be the set-up for the final clashes to come. That is, 3-4 battles left. Three of them are reserved for Naruto and one for Killer B.

Though I am permitting that if any of you would like to give an alternate ending to the one I'm planning then do so, I'm not restricting any of you, but I would like to be informed if any of you have any problems with the ending I'm about to give.


End file.
